Quote from: kazuki49 on November 12, 2015, 03:36:45 AM

Yeah I really want to keep the current logo but this one is making it extremely difficult Cheesy

We need to think about the future nature of money itself. Our world is going to rapidly become better for everyone - we need to understand this. It will be a time of great upheaval as AI and robotics unseat the notion that everyone has to work for a living. Many are simply going to get to "exist".

The notion of applying your talents is going to fall to an increasingly small group of people gifted intellectually, creatively, socially, aesthetically, and athletically. We are already seeing the first wave of this in 2015; it's all around you.

Cryptocurrency, the internet, AI, and robotics are going to allow us to provide a minimum standard of life for every human being - even the poorest woman in Nigeria or the poorest man in Tajikistan will be able to have nutritious food, a decent shelter, entertainment, and access to the sum of all human knowledge. In such a world, why would humans strive to do more?

I keep coming back to this book because it really is that important. If you haven't read it, you need to. I'm actually about to re-read it for the third time because it helps me reflect on deep social mechanisms every time I do: http://www.amazon.com/Spent-Sex-Evolution-Consumer-Behavior/dp/0143117238

What people will need in a world without scarcity is a reason to work hard and apply themselves. This will come into play in the form of status. A hardware upgrade to humans will likely be the last step that will make money as we know it obsolete, so we can rely on humans running pretty much the same hardware as long as money is relevant. This hardware is based on sound biology that we see across the animal kingdom and is based on a very important concept: costly signalling.

Once you have enough to be happy, most of us (some rise above these base instincts) still feel the need for more. This is costly signalling. What is that diamond watch doing besides telling the time? It's doing the same thing that the luxury car, perfect makeup, washboard abs, $5000 dress, or anything else you find in the Robb Report does: it's signalling to potential mates and friends: "Hey, look at me. I have so much free time and money that I can afford to literally waste it on icons and objects that display how successful I am."

Those of us scraping by at jobs might get offended at this, but there is no need. This is what being an animal is about - cats lick and groom themselves with their spare time to display what a "rich" cat they are (they have lots of free time because they are successful hunters). Birds perfect intricate songs that serve no real purpose other than to show off what a fancy song they've mastered. And humans drive Lambos and wear Vera Wang dresses.

The move to a post-scarcity world is not going to change these instincts, and because we cannot change human instinct we must create a system that uses those instincts and directs them into something beneficial for all. Bitcoin didn't attempt to tell humans, "Hey, here are the rules. Please suppress your greed and play fairly". No, Bitcoin took human needs and used them as part of a system that fueled something useful. With Bitcoin, greed was literally good. Go ahead and hammer the network trying to get more than the rest of the players - you're only making the protocol stronger.

Bitcoin succeeded because it harnessed powerful and primal forces within us.

And Aeon will succeed because it will harness similar powerful and primal forces. We won't be harnessing the power of greed any more than any other cryptocurrency but we will be adding a new key ingredient that has been missing from crypto-objects up until now: status.

Why do you think this rings so true?

Quote

Aeon isn't a cryptocurrency. It's a lifestyle.
It's about polished perfection, attained by breaking the rules with calculated mastery of the art. It's about respecting history and pushing innovation forward at the same time. It's about more than just math: it's a vision of a world where luxury is the same as entry-level, and the limits are the heavens themselves.
If you're just buying Aeon to get rich, don't even bother. Aeon needs more than just the next wave of crypto speculators: we're looking for the truly elite.
But if you think you have what it takes to redefine global finance and discover new magnitudes of wealth in the process... Well, Aeon is ready for you.
Are you ready for Aeon?

It rings true because it is. If you want to help create the future of money for the masses, Monero is waiting. Everyone is invited.

But not everyone is invited to Aeon. You have to have a little bit more. Maybe it's smarts, or connections. Perhaps one day it will be raw money. For now it's ingenuity and risk tolerance. One day we may see Aeon rise to be one of the most expensive cryptocurrencies (inexplicably and despite it being a Cryptonote test bed). Perhaps there will be entire classes of luxury virtual goods that can only be purchased with Aeon, and *their* status will be secured by the fact that someone has to get their hands on Aeon to even have a chance to purchase the luxury good in the first place.

But even now, by owning Aeon and providing the network with value you are doing your part to help advance digital money around the world. The status of ownership is just one of the advantages.