1/ one of the most common arguments against bitcoin's PoW is energy expenditure and "waste" - both in terms of computational capacity and electricity. this is a flawed analysis, because it is absolute instead of comparative.
2/ how much energy is expended on mining, trading, and storing physical gold? how much energy is expended on printing and securing physical cash? how much energy is expended on building, maintaining, and securing telecommunications infrastructure?
3/ relative analysis is always more valuable than absolute analysis. i sometimes fall into this trap - especially in crypto - of thinking x is better than y without attempting to understand the relative value of x and its analogs
4/ this also happens with "trading" - people who trade cryptocurrencies often focus on relative value instead of absolute value, and forget that relative value should reference back to bitcoin, not USD. it's a fascinating mindset to observe.
5/ i wonder how we can get better at helping ourselves and others identify and correct these flaws in our logic and reasoning. data and metrics are one tool - but i think much of it will be driven by user experience and design of the tools we use and the content we consume
6/ this is why i'm very bullish on companies and projects that focus on user experience, design, and training behavioral loops. good engineering is the basis of any project, but design and marketing differentiates a mediocre project from an absolutely phenomenal project.
7/ ethereum is a perfect example of a project that understood these dynamics - design (solidity) informed community (javascript devs). marketing (world computer) informed use cases (smart contracts).
8/ in the current environment where hundreds of protocols are competing for attention, i'm eager to see what forces will train the market to think in new ways and to differentiate between absolute and relative value of projects
