The Big Picture and Implications
Questions Asked the Wrong Way
Discussions about crypto can devolve into superficial speculation about trading coins and guessing trends on price. Still, crypto is about big ideas and questions that challenge our thinking, beliefs, and assumptions about modern life.
Learning about it not only helps us navigate the future but widens our horizons and helps us understand that our present situation is neither natural nor inevitable and that we have many more possibilities before us than we imagine.
Blockchain and its applications like Cryptocurrency, NFTs, DeFi, Metaverse, and DAOs reside in a conceptual space that intersects political science and governments, technology, Finance and business, money and value. It is at the intersection of Economics, Finance, Technology, and Cryptography.
“Crypto represents an architectural shift in how technology works and therefore how the world works.” — Marc Andreessen
Marc invented the web browser, so he has seen this type of paradigm shift before.
Crypto is fascinating because it makes us question many basic assumptions about how a society functions and transacts.
Crypto is about big ideas that only now are practical because the technology has sufficiently advanced to implement them. It is challenging us to shift the fundamental organizing principles of our societies.
By revisiting and questioning our fundamental beliefs, we have an opportunity to add a new layer to make the world of humans function better, fairer, and more efficiently.
We have social problems that seem intractable, impossible to solve.
“Problems that remain persistently insoluble should always be suspected as questions asked in the wrong way.” — Alan Watts
Crypto forces us to revisit our assumptions and beliefs and ask new questions. It holds huge promise for the developing world and for the billions of people who are unbanked.
Crypto is also about offsetting the debasement of at money. Government mismanagement of currencies can create hyperinflation and the devaluation of currency. Even the traditional growth model of inflation at a target of 2% devalues money like a melting ice cube.
Another goal is to replace intermediaries like global banks and tech platforms with software built on top of networks that direct the value they generate back to the users who own and run them. This evolution could go a long way to combatting misinformation and clickbait driven by advertising models of revenue generation. With Web3, we can ditch the ad-based business model and build a better web.
Chris Dixon says, “Web3 combines the decentralized, community-governed ethos of Web1 with the advanced, modern functionality of Web2”.
Sounds good.
Only puny secrets need protection. Big secrets are protected by public incredulity. Our current ideas and beliefs, and assumptions surrounding money, corporations, the role of governments and artists, are deeply embedded in our psyches and not easy to change. It’s like the matrix. We think money, banks, governments, and at currencies are natural laws. But it’s all human constructions and supported by collective agreement.
There are a lot of topics to cover in the crypto ecosystem and they all require an open and curious mind to entertain.
Crypto is a paradigm shift. A paradigm shift is a concept introduced in the book The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Kuhn. In the book Kuhn proposes that progress isn’t steady but goes in fits and starts as we try to hold on to outdated models and resist new ones. Think about Copernicus and the Earth not being the center of the universe. Crypto represents a similar paradigm shift in our thinking about how money, governments, and commerce function.
The future is here but it’s lumpy and uneven and not evenly distributed. Stay tuned.
This is what my book and my course is about. You don’t have to be technical but you do need to be curious.
Thanks for reading,
John
If you are looking for bonus content to help you in your journey you can learn more here.
Practical, no-nonsense MBA advice to maximize your career and life!
I am John Cousins, and I am proud to have had a diverse and accomplished career in multiple fields. My journey started with an electronics degree from MIT, which set the stage for my technical expertise and gave me the foundation I needed to succeed. From there, I went on to earn a BA from Boston University and an MBA from Wharton, which armed me with the business knowledge and skills I would need throughout my career.
I got my start in biotech, where I was fortunate enough to become the CEO of a company developing innovative cancer diagnostics. This role was just the beginning of my success in the corporate world, as I also served as the CFO of several public companies for 15 years and took two companies public during that time.
In addition to my corporate accomplishments, I have also been able to share my expertise and passion for business with others through writing and teaching. I have written a number of best-selling books on business topics, including "Patent It Yourself!", "Negotiation Communication Nation", "Reading and Understanding Financial Statements", and "MBA ASAP". I also founded MBA ASAP, an online business education community that provides individuals around the world with access to valuable business skills and knowledge.
For the past decade, I have been honored to share my experience and knowledge with students as a business teacher at universities and colleges. I am passionate about helping others achieve success in business, and I believe that my writing and teaching are a way for me to give back and make a positive impact.
Overall, I am grateful for the opportunities and experiences that have come my way, and I am proud of what I have been able to achieve. Whether it's through my corporate success, my writing, or my teaching, I am committed to making a difference in the business world and helping others succeed.
John Cousins MBA-ASAP Newsletter is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.