“Beware of what I call Pascal's scams: movements or belief systems that ask you to hope for or worry about very improbable outcomes that could have very large positive or negative consequences.” - Nick Szabo
Another amazing piece from the Unenumerated blog by Nick Szabo that explains a class of doomsday and utopia predictions he refers to as “Pascal’s Scams.” How it can appear rational to worry or hope for extremely improbable outcomes. We read part 1 & 2 together and then talk about how this perspective could change our view of these crazy times. Don’t miss it.
Here are the original blog posts, in addition to the incredible body of work available on the Unenumerated Blog:
Part 1: https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2012/07/pascals-scams.html
Part 2: https://unenumerated.blogspot.com/2012/07/pascals-scams-ii.html
Some of the previous works by Szabo we have read on the show:
Shelling Out: The Origins of Money
• https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/Reboot---Shelling-Out-The-Origins-of-Money-Nick-Szabo-e9omme
Money, Blockchains, & Social Scalability
• https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_066---Money--Blockchains--and-Social-Scalability-e2ndsj
Exit and Freedom
• https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_233---Exit--Freedom-Nick-Szabo-e3nleo
The God Protocols
• https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_261---The-God-Protocols-Nick-Szabo-e4cstb
The Dawn of Trustworthy Computing:
• https://anchor.fm/thecryptoconomy/episodes/CryptoQuikRead_113---The-Dawn-of-Trustworthy-Computing-Nick-Szabo-e2ndr3
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