Philosopher and professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, Jordan Peterson, at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, called the first cryptocurrency revolutionary, but causing concern.
Decentralization as an Idea
“The idea of a decentralized monetary system, well, that is a revolutionary idea, and the more I thought about it, it makes me wary,” he said.
As a sociologist, Peterson worries about getting money out of the control of the political system. According to him, new ideas can bring unforeseen consequences, not only positive ones.
“We have no idea what would happen if money was actually decentralized,” he said. “If we manage that, let’s say bitcoin attains primacy, is it irreversible? Is that permanent? And then you think, ‘Well what if it’s a bad idea?’ and it’s irreversible.”
The psychologist and philosopher said that he does not criticize digital gold and is not pessimistic about it, but rather cautious.
“The probability that you invent something extremely powerful and it only does the things you think it will do and all those things are good, it’s like no, that never happens.”
Surferinvestor reminds you that BTC does have a number of undeniable advantages against gold. In particular, its maximum supply is known in advance – and it cannot be changed. In addition, approximately every four years – or 210 thousand blocks – the rate of issuance of the first cryptocurrency becomes two times less. Finally, cryptocurrency is easy to send to a person in another part of the world and very easy to “transport” with you.
Role of the Government
According to Peterson, a withdrawal from fiat currencies would have effects on governmental control, but it’s unclear what those effects would be. Governments still offer structure, he added, even though the actions of central banks could be viewed as robbery and those of elected officials as questionable.
“Most of us assume that taxation is acceptable, or at least we don’t strike up the revolution because it has occurred,” he said.
According to Peterson, we don’t know what will occur if we take away that control. Nevertheless, he clarified that his remarks are not intended to be an attack on bitcoin but rather are the result of years of observing social scientists conduct extensive social experiments that are eventually unsuccessful.
It is worth mentioning that since 2018, Peterson himself began to accept donations in bitcoins, that is, he does not treat the crypto industry with a negative attitude. Also in November 2021, Peterson said that he bought “some more bitcoin” after talking with economist Saifedean Ammous on his podcast.
“I’m not really suggesting that you do anything as a result of this caution, I’m just saying that unbridled enthusiasm predicated on the assumption that your new system will only do the good things you think it will do, that’s not wise,” said Peterson.
