bostonwine on Nostr: Long read, philosophers welcome, tl;dr-seekers beware 😉 I’ve been thinking ...

Long read, philosophers welcome, tl;dr-seekers beware 😉


I’ve been thinking deeply today about the concept of action: of freely manifesting the next instance of reality. This concept takes many forms, but today I’m looking at it in the context of speech and Bitcoin/cryptographic sovereignty…



*Running your own node fulfills the direct peer-to-peer nature of Bitcoin’s original state*


So. It’s easy to understand the practical case for running a Bitcoin node, with benefits like the ability to verify your coins and improved privacy.

But there’s also a philosophical consideration that I’ve been mulling over… and I’d love others’ input.

When running a node, you not only verify and sign transactions; you also broadcast them to the network, where another node (peer) can pick up the electrons (loosely described).

If you use your wallet provider’s node, you depend on them to communicate your desired transaction with your trade partner. By using another entity’s node, you sacrifice the pure peer-to-peer nature of the Bitcoin network.

Likewise, by running your own node and freely broadcasting your own transaction to your peer, you take full control of (and responsibility for) your action and its effect.

This isn’t to suggest that “you must run node to be good bitcoiner” or some nonsense like that (although it’s self-evident that running a node is usually good). Most of us still depend on internet and electric companies to achieve any of this stuff.

I’m moreso contemplating different setups and permutations of sovereignty.

There’s something beautiful about the process of communicating your intended transfer of value on your own terms, permission-less-ly, rather than asking a service provider to communicate it for you.

So, I’m coming to view it more as an expression of the principle of freedom of speech.

We know the code-is-speech case, but that’s a little different. As I understand it, it means that freedom of expression includes the math and language of code, such that code is included among in the types of speech to which we have a right.

On the other hand, I’m thinking about the moment of broadcasting a transaction from your own node.

Taking this action is exercising the freedom *to* speak, to express your intention of transferring value.

To broadcast a Bitcoin transaction, from your own node, is to declare your participation in this global network of near-perfect consensus.

I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there is something profound about that moment of action, of doing, of “is-ness”, of the truth and reality of manifesting action in the present moment.

Of course, grokking this profound experience is not constrained to Bitcoin transactions — the beauty of being/doing exists everywhere — but I’m struck today by the freeness of action, and how that action is itself an expression of the right to speak and to assemble.

There’s something exceptional about action - generation, manifestation, creation. When the freedom to speak is overlaid on the significance of action, then the choice to run your own node, and to broadcast your transaction directly to the network of your peers takes on a deeper significance and value.

Thanks for reading 🫂🧡

#plebchain #showerthoughts #grownostr #philosophy