Thread by @mohakagr

(1/n) Last week @VitalikButerin did a social experiment and initiated a Twitter AMA for the folks he follows. While the thread in itself is gold, it nudged me to learn more about him.

In this 🧵, I'll explore his psychology beyond #Ethereum.

(2/n) Born in Moscow, Vitalik's parents moved to Canada to find better opportunities when he was six years old. The migration exposed him to the emerging Internet culture, which significantly contributed to his development. Here's young Vitalik's story:

(3/n) Children tend to get attached to material things too quickly. This overwhelming emotion fails any reasonable attempts at understanding its utility. Particularly true for toys and games - things that have relatively low functional value.

(4/n) Irrational or not, our childhood attitudes contribute to our personalities as we grow. While we evolve at several different levels, the child within us stays the same. The principle applies to young Vitalik - a strange genius, not too sociable, seeking solace online.

(5/n) He finds comfort in the game World of Warcraft, where he invests ample time and energy. However, a minuscule change in his in-game character's abilities enrages him.

He realizes how little he controls the world he thinks is his own.

(6/n) Thus began his journey to search for a new purpose in life. It was his father who first mentioned Bitcoin, but Vitalik was skeptical, as he did not understand how digital currencies could have value without any intrinsic value.

(7/n) But as he explored the fundamentals, he became more interested. He then started writing articles for bitcoin blogs and forums for 5 BTC ($15 at that time) per article, ultimately leading to founding @BitcoinMagazine along with @MihaiAlisie.

(8/n) In May 2013, he made a trip to San Jose, California, for the conference that would change his life.
Quoting him on the conference experience - "It really convinced me that, hey, this thing's (crypto) real and it's worth taking a risk and jumping into. So I did."

(9/n) He dropped out of college. And for the next six months, he traveled around the world, visiting bitcoiners and learning about the new projects pushing Bitcoin's limitations. The bitcoins he had got as a blogger were now accruing in value.

(10/n) When he returned to Toronto, he was convinced that he would build the next version of Bitcoin. Within a month, he drafted the initial whitepaper of Ethereum, which was Turing-complete, making it possible to deliver unimaginable digital use cases.

(11/n) He shared the whitepaper with his friends and asked them to circulate it within their circles. He waited for critical reviews from cryptographers and devs around the world for his apparent mistakes. But that never happened.

(12/n) As it turned out, the core of the project he was ideating was fundamentally sound. All that was left was its implementation. A couple of months later, he went to Bitcoin Miami and shared his idea on the stage; he got quite a standing ovation.

(13/n) The world realized that the idea was good, but it doesn't scale; it had limitations. He quickly formed a founding team to implement @ethereum in action. A hasty decision, as we all know, had led to massive halts in Ethereum development. A decision he still regrets.

(14/n) The founders decided to fundraise through a crowd sale of Ether, raising over 31K bitcoins from the crypto community, giving birth to the Ethereum we know today.

The rest is history!

(15/n) Apart from presumptions from the general public generalizing him as a genius and as someone likely on the spectrum.

There is a lot to @VitalikButerin's personality that meets the eye.

(16/n) He is extraordinarily articulate and knowledgeable across many disciplines. The primary drivers for building a revolutionary product that challenges centralization are a deep-rooted set of personal beliefs.

(17/n) In case you are unaware, @VitalikButerin is a passionate proponent of individualism and the freedom it entails. One of the things that I most identify with about him.

Also, he's different from most proponents of free speech.

(18/n) I have observed that people who participate in the traditional individual vs. collective arguments tend to take extremes.

However, with Vitalik, it has always been about striving for a balance between the two. It clearly reflects in this thread 👇

https://twitter.com/VitalikButerin/status/945997191973289985

(19/n) But I have a concern with the utopian notion of striving for perfect balance.

Don't get me wrong, I do believe in limitless personal freedom. But, I also think that basic hierarchical structures are needed to outline accountability and decision-making responsibilities.

(20/n) These are concerns that even @VitalikButerin indirectly admits - by not supporting one aspect over the other but striving to find a middle ground.

I agree with him 100% in his opposition to censorship. Why should our ability to express ourselves freely be an illusion?

(21/n) Throughout his career, he has come out to support orgs that make a more significant societal impact. His support for @RadxChange and charities around the world is a testament to that.

We all know the 350 IQ move he made with $SHIB.

(22/n) Three quick facts that you didn't know:

- He loves Singapore and Toronto for their incredible "cultural mix";
- He has an IQ of 257; (Don't quote me on this, but we know he is a big brain)
- He is a math prodigy.

(23/n) Apart from being the youngest crypto billionaire, he has other accolades on his name:
- Thiel Fellowship, 2014
- World Technology Award, 2014
- Fortune 40 under 40, 2016
- Forbes 30 under 30, 2018
- Ledger 40 under 40, 2018
- University of Basel Honorary doctorate, 2018

(24/n) What sets him apart from other people within the industry is his indifference towards challenges, willingness to learn and experiment, and solid stance on what he believes in. Case in point, @ethereum scaling challenges.

(25/25) We need more people like him to stand firm and fight the battle against the concentration of power within a few hands. He is a constant inspiration that provokes us to think beyond our intellectual boundaries.

Go, Vitalik!