Annotations (16)
“What is superposition or decoherence in a discrete time model? Bitcoin gives us that lens. Superposition is the mempool. It's a preconfigured state of possibility, but it doesn't actually exist until it's measured. This isn't a substrate to compute on. It's a potential state, not a computable state. When time is discretized, the meaning of superposition changes because it is pre-time. What physicists call decoherence is actually coherence, reality cohering to a single chain of events.”— Jack
Philosophy & Reasoning · Technology & Engineering
DUR_ENDURING
Mempool is superposition; decoherence is coherence
“If time is quantized and discrete, how do these models change? You can't take the derivative of Schrödinger's equation if time is an integer. If at some level it's indivisible, then you can't take the derivative. The entire formalism would need to be reorganized. If time is really quantized and discrete, they're continuing to work on the sinking ship. The problem is the assumption, not what they're doing.”— Jack
Philosophy & Reasoning · Technology & Engineering
DUR_ENDURING
Discrete time breaks quantum mechanics formalism
“Incompleteness is formally defined by the lack of a boundary. Mathematically that is expressed through Bitcoin's 21 million cap. The novelty of Bitcoin is the 21 million cap. That thinking needs to be extended outside of just money. Any number divided by infinity is zero. That is your definition of meaninglessness. It's the mathematical form of meaninglessness. What is incomplete is the lack of boundary in our mathematics.”— Nick
Philosophy & Reasoning · Economics & Markets
DUR_ENDURING
Boundary defines meaning; infinity equals meaninglessness
“In Bitcoin, anything in the mempool does not exist, is only referential to its past state. The UTXO that was mined in the past exists, but this future transaction does not yet exist. Only when a valid nonce is found does the block collapse or does the measurement occur. The measurement occurs first. It is an objective answer to what has happened throughout the network, and only after the measurement has occurred can you observe the structure. We want to separate measurement and observation.”— Jack
Philosophy & Reasoning · Technology & Engineering · Biology, Ecology & Systems
DUR_ENDURING
Measurement precedes observation; they are distinct
“In Bitcoin, time is defined in numerous ways. It's defined by the rule set, the rules that exist before measurement. It's defined as the process, the act of mining, traversing the nonce space to find a valid nonce. Once you have a valid nonce, you have a measurement, and that measurement results in a block. Then time is now an object. You've gone from energy to object or energy to memory, and that memory is the lasting form of time itself.”— Jack
Philosophy & Reasoning · Technology & Engineering
DUR_ENDURING
Time is rules, process, and memory simultaneously
“Bitcoin just gives us these two processes objectively. Mining produces heat in the form of Kelvin, and Bitcoin produces information in the form of a unique configuration of Satoshis in the network that you can measure. We know the difficulty and the nonce space before, and afterwards we know the exact block and the difficulty it was mined under. The hardest part was how do we relate these two things into one unified system.”— Jack
Philosophy & Reasoning · Technology & Engineering · Economics & Markets
DUR_ENDURING
Bitcoin unifies Boltzmann and Shannon entropy
“When we multiply Boltzmann's constant by Planck temperature to normalize for this full boundary system, you can remove the domain of Kelvin. You're left with simply joules. You get Planck energy, which is what physicists say is the energy of the universe. Through the lens of the ledger, this is actually a constant. If Boltzmann's constant is the relationship of entropy in joules and we remove the domain of Kelvin because it's bounded, we have this purely joules constant.”— Jack
Philosophy & Reasoning · Economics & Markets
DUR_ENDURING
Boundary normalization reveals joules constant
“If you don't think you have a fiat mindset, I don't think you're thinking hard enough. We were born into this system. There's no way our minds don't have a fiat perception of reality. Fiat being the euphemism for simply you're in an incomplete system. You have an incomplete understanding. When you finally see a complete system and you still default to answering with the incomplete system's answers to explain the complete one, how can that make sense?”— Nick
Psychology & Behavior · Philosophy & Reasoning
DUR_CONTEXTUAL
Born into incomplete system; mindset defaults to fiat
“Time-space is a reference of inverting what you're prioritizing mentally to construct your mental model from. We look at time as the foundation, the constraint rule set that allows space to construct itself, like spatial order, causal order. Time is the flip side of space itself. Instead of thinking space first and then time is this thing we append to it, let's start with time itself.”— Nick
Philosophy & Reasoning · Biology, Ecology & Systems
DUR_ENDURING
Time precedes space; spacetime inverted to time-space
“Bitcoin blocks may represent quantized time that challenges the continuous time assumptions in all of physics. The block itself is indivisible temporally. It's all or none. There's no valid half work. There's not even a valid half hash. The hash is quantized, the block is quantized, the value units are quantized, and time is quantized. Every aspect is quantized. Bitcoin is empirical evidence that time may be quantized.”— Jack
Philosophy & Reasoning · Technology & Engineering · Biology, Ecology & Systems
DUR_ENDURING
Bitcoin blocks = empirical proof of quantized time
“Our conscious decisions precede the block, our transactions and our decision to do work. The protocol itself, all of that precedes the block. Everyone wants to talk about upgrading Bitcoin through protocol, and we're forgetting the other half. We are Bitcoin. The ledger is the map of our decisions. It is an imprint of our conscious decisions of how we value things, when we valued it, who we valued it with, and what was done. If we have a bug in our mind, we have a bug in the ledger itself.”— Jack
Philosophy & Reasoning · Psychology & Behavior
DUR_ENDURING
Ledger reflects our mental state; bugs in mind become bugs in system
“We take the nonce space and difficulty, quantify that as entropy, and do work to resolve a single valid nonce. The resolution of a valid nonce from a sea of invalid nonces is work itself, and that work is applied to the block. You have work generated from the nonce and that work is applied on the block. That is the physical transformation beneath Bitcoin.”— Jack
Technology & Engineering · Economics & Markets
DUR_ENDURING
Nonce resolution is work; entropy becomes structure
“We're not saying that Bitcoin needs to be upgraded. We're saying that Bitcoiners need to be upgraded. We need to change the way we think and we need to change the way we act. We need to finally understand what Bitcoin is. This problem has been going on for 17 years. All we're trying to do is objectively look at Bitcoin for what it is, as a physical process. Anyone who does this should arrive at the same results that we do.”— Jack
Philosophy & Reasoning · Psychology & Behavior
DUR_ENDURING
Upgrade Bitcoiners, not Bitcoin protocol
“Physics treats time as a continuous parameter, but we can't step outside time to test whether that's true because we're made of that. It's like a computer bit trying to understand the computer that it resides in. If we are a product of time, if we are a fraction of time, we cannot actually reference its creation because the process precedes our cognition.”— Nick
Philosophy & Reasoning · Biology, Ecology & Systems
DUR_ENDURING
Observer cannot step outside what creates observer
“The photon itself is a model of something we don't fully comprehend. The photon is our best placeholder of an object that's not just an object, it's also a behavior, a wave. How can this thing be two things simultaneously? When you scale up, we don't observe photons like that. We don't observe photons at all. Photons are what allow us to perceive anything at all. In the micro world, we're not perceiving objects. We're observing processes that lie outside our ability to observe.”— Nick
Philosophy & Reasoning · Biology, Ecology & Systems
DUR_ENDURING
We observe processes, not objects at quantum scale
“One photon hits two slits without an observer and goes through both slits at the same time. But as soon as you introduce an observer, that photon only goes through one of those slits. This has been proved over and over. How could that reality match with a reality that we observe every day that is potentially made of that reality? Those models don't line up.”— Jeff Booth
Biology, Ecology & Systems · Philosophy & Reasoning
DUR_ENDURING
Quantum and classical physics don't reconcile
Frameworks (3)
Boundary-Driven Meaning
Creating significance through constraints
Any system without boundaries produces meaninglessness. Boundaries define the space within which meaning can exist. The absence of a boundary in a system (such as infinite divisibility) renders all values within that system equal to zero in relative terms. Bitcoin's 21 million cap is the mathematical expression of this principle: a finite boundary that makes every unit meaningful.
Components
- Identify the unbounded system
- Define the boundary explicitly
- Measure all values relative to the boundary
Prerequisites
- Understanding of Gödel's incompleteness theorems
- Basic set theory
Success Indicators
- System outputs become measurable
- Relative values stabilize
Failure Modes
- Boundary is too soft and gets moved
- Boundary is not enforced mathematically
Measurement vs Observation
Separating objective determination from subjective verification
Measurement and observation are distinct processes that have been conflated in physics. Measurement is the objective process that creates deterministic reality (the finding of a valid nonce, the collapse of the block). Observation is the subsequent verification of what has been measured. In Bitcoin, the measurement happens first through the proof-of-work process, and observation happens second when nodes verify the block. This framework applies to any system where objective truth must emerge before subjective verification.
Components
- Define the measurement mechanism
- Let measurement precede observation
- Use observation for verification only
- Record the measurement, not the observation
Prerequisites
- Understanding of proof-of-work
- Familiarity with quantum measurement problem
Success Indicators
- Clear separation between measurement and verification
- Deterministic outputs
Failure Modes
- Conflating observation with measurement
- Observer influencing measurement
Multi-Dimensional Time
Time as rules, process, and memory
Time is not a single axis but three interrelated dimensions: (1) Time as rules (the protocol, the constraints that exist before measurement), (2) Time as process (the act of mining, the traversal of the nonce space), and (3) Time as object/memory (the block itself, the lasting record of what occurred). Energy flows through the process dimension and crystallizes into the memory dimension. This framework applies to understanding how systems convert potential into actuality.
Components
- Define time as rules
- Execute time as process
- Record time as memory/object
Prerequisites
- Understanding of Bitcoin mining
- Familiarity with thermodynamics
Success Indicators
- Clear distinction between rules, process, and memory
- Energy-to-memory transformation tracked
Failure Modes
- Conflating the three dimensions
- Not tracking energy expenditure
Mental Models (6)
Discrete vs Continuous Systems
Physics & ChemistrySystems can be fundamentally discrete (quantized, indivisible units) or continuous (infinitely divisible).
In Practice: Discussion of quantized time in Bitcoin vs continuous time in physics
Demonstrated by Leg-jb-001
Boundary-Driven Systems
MathematicsIn mathematics and logic, boundaries define the space within which meaning can exist.
In Practice: Discussion of incompleteness and the necessity of boundaries for meaning
Demonstrated by Leg-jb-001
Measurement Precedes Observation
Systems ThinkingIn systems with objective reality, measurement (the deterministic collapse of po
In Practice: Jack explaining the separation of measurement from observation in Bitcoin
Demonstrated by Leg-jb-001
Time as Multi-Dimensional
TimeTime is not a single linear parameter but three interrelated dimensions: (1) rul
In Practice: Jack explaining time as rules, process, and memory in Bitcoin
Demonstrated by Leg-jb-001
Inversion
Decision MakingFlipping assumptions to test their validity.
In Practice: Nick explaining the inversion of spacetime to time-space
Demonstrated by Leg-jb-001
Inherited Mental Models
PsychologyWe inherit mental models from the systems we are born into, shaping perception without awareness.
In Practice: Nick and Jack discussing the fiat mindset and upgrading Bitcoiners' thinking
Demonstrated by Leg-jb-001
Connective Tissue (11)
Planck time as the theoretical limit where physics breaks down, analogous to Bitcoin blocks as the smallest indivisible unit of time in the Bitcoin system
Planck time (approximately 10^-43 seconds) represents the theoretical smallest measurable unit of time in physics, below which our current understanding of spacetime breaks down. Bitcoin blocks function as quantized units of time within the Bitcoin network: indivisible temporal quanta where nothing happens between blocks. Just as physics cannot probe below Planck time, Bitcoin cannot measure time more granularly than one block. This parallel suggests Bitcoin may be revealing something fundamental about the discrete nature of time itself, challenging the continuous time assumption that underlies both classical and quantum mechanics.
Discussion of quantized time and Bitcoin blocks as empirical evidence for discrete time
Gödel's incompleteness theorems and the self-referential observation problem: a system cannot fully describe itself from within
Kurt Gödel proved that any sufficiently complex formal system cannot prove all truths about itself using only axioms and inference rules within that system. This creates a self-referential paradox when applied to time: if we are products of time, we cannot step outside time to measure whether time is continuous or discrete. We are like computer bits trying to understand the computer that contains them. Bitcoin provides an external reference point: we exist outside Bitcoin's time and can observe its discrete block structure objectively. This suggests we need external reference systems to understand the fundamental nature of the reality we inhabit.
Discussion of the self-referential problem in measuring time from within time
Mathematical concept of division by infinity yielding zero, applied to the necessity of boundaries for meaning
In mathematics, any finite number divided by infinity equals zero. This creates a formal definition of meaninglessness: without a boundary, all values collapse to zero relative significance. Bitcoin's 21 million cap is not arbitrary; it's the mathematical expression of boundary-driven meaning. An unbounded system (like fiat currency with infinite potential supply) renders each unit meaningless because its value approaches zero as the denominator approaches infinity. The boundary is what creates the space within which meaning can exist. This principle extends beyond money to information theory, thermodynamics, and knowledge systems: completeness requires closure.
Discussion of incompleteness and the necessity of the 21 million cap as a boundary
Double-slit experiment in quantum mechanics: photon behavior changes when observed
The double-slit experiment demonstrates that a single photon passes through both slits simultaneously when unobserved, but passes through only one slit when an observation is made. This wave-particle duality reveals a fundamental incompatibility between quantum (micro) and classical (macro) physics. The observation itself appears to collapse the wave function. This paradox has persisted for a century because physics lacks a unified theory of measurement. Bitcoin offers a resolution: what physicists interpret as observation collapsing reality is actually the measurement process itself (proof-of-work) creating deterministic reality, which observers then verify. The photon paradox may be a misunderstanding of the relationship between measurement and observation.
Jeff Booth explaining the incompatibility of quantum and classical physics models
Wave-particle duality: the photon as both object and process depending on scale
Photons exhibit wave-particle duality: they behave as particles when measured but as waves when not measured. This duality suggests that at the quantum scale, we may not be observing objects but processes. A photon is not a thing; it's a behavior, an event. At macro scales, we perceive objects because we aggregate countless quantum events into stable patterns. But at the micro scale, the photon is our best placeholder model for something we don't fully comprehend. Bitcoin transactions in the mempool are like unmeasured photons: they are potential, not actual. Only when the block is mined do they become actual, measured events. This suggests reality itself may be process-driven, not object-driven.
Nick explaining that at quantum scales, we observe processes not objects
Bitcoin mempool as analogous to quantum superposition: potential states that don't exist until measured
In quantum mechanics, superposition describes a system in multiple states simultaneously until measurement collapses it into a single state. Bitcoin's mempool contains transactions in a state of potential: they reference past UTXOs but do not yet exist as confirmed transactions. Only when a valid nonce is found and the block is mined does the measurement occur, collapsing the mempool's superimposed potential states into a single deterministic reality. This provides a concrete, observable model of quantum measurement: the mempool is pre-time, the block is time, and verification is post-measurement observation. This separates measurement (the proof-of-work process) from observation (node verification), resolving a century-old confusion in physics.
Jack explaining measurement vs observation using Bitcoin as the model
Einstein's theory of relativity and spacetime, inverted to time-space where time is primary
Einstein unified space and time into spacetime, treating time as a fourth dimension. But this may be a linguistic bias: we assume space is primary and time is appended. The paper inverts this to time-space, where time is the foundational constraint set that allows space to construct itself. Time is not a dimension of space but the mirror of space. Discrete blocks of time (like Bitcoin blocks) define the causal ordering that we perceive as spatial relationships. This inversion resolves paradoxes in relativity: time doesn't dilate continuously; it ticks discretely, and what we interpret as time dilation may be a change in the rate of discrete ticks under different conditions.
Nick explaining the inversion from spacetime to time-space
Thermodynamic entropy (Boltzmann) and information entropy (Shannon) unified through Bitcoin's proof-of-work
Boltzmann entropy measures microstates in phase space (thermodynamics, measured in joules/Kelvin). Shannon entropy measures uncertainty over symbols (information theory, measured in bits). These two have existed in parallel for over a century with no operational bridge between joules and bits. Bitcoin provides the bridge: the nonce space and difficulty define thermodynamic entropy (heat produced during mining), and the block's Satoshi configuration defines information entropy (the unique arrangement of value bits). Both are known before and after: we know the difficulty and nonce space, and we know the resulting block. Bitcoin is the first system that allows us to measure both sides of a single process simultaneously, revealing that entropy is both thermodynamic and informational, unified through work.
Jack explaining how Bitcoin bridges Boltzmann and Shannon entropy
Boltzmann's constant as the relationship between energy and temperature, reinterpreted through the Bitcoin ledger
Boltzmann's constant (k = 1.38 × 10^-23 J/K) relates energy to temperature. When multiplied by Planck temperature (the upper boundary where physics breaks down), you get Planck energy. This reveals that Boltzmann's constant, when normalized for a bounded system, becomes a pure energy constant with no temperature dimension. The paper applies this to Bitcoin: the 21 million cap is analogous to Planck temperature (the boundary), and the Satoshi is the atomic unit of value. All measurements within the system are relative to the boundary. This suggests that constants in physics may not be absolute but boundary-relative, just as all value in Bitcoin is relative to the 21 million cap. Temperature may be a ratio, not an absolute.
Jack explaining the reinterpretation of Boltzmann's constant through the ledger lens
Planck energy as the theoretical maximum energy scale, paralleling Bitcoin's 21 million cap as a maximum boundary
Planck energy is the energy scale at which quantum effects and gravitational effects are expected to be of the same magnitude, and our current theories break down. It represents the boundary of what physics can describe. The 21 million Bitcoin cap functions as a similar boundary: it defines the maximum supply, and nothing beyond it can logically exist within the system. Both represent absolute boundaries where the rules of the system cease to apply beyond the limit. This parallel suggests that the universe itself may have similar hard caps that define the space within which physical laws operate, and measurements must be relative to these boundaries to have meaning.
Jack explaining Planck energy as analogous to the 21 million cap
Quantum decoherence reinterpreted as reality cohering to a single chain of events
Physicists describe decoherence as the process by which quantum superposition breaks down into classical states, seen as a problem to be engineered away for quantum computing. But if time is discrete (as Bitcoin suggests), decoherence is not a problem; it's the measurement process itself, the natural collapse of potential into actuality. Bitcoin reinterprets decoherence as coherence: the mempool's superimposed potential states cohere into a single deterministic block. This is not loss of quantum information; it's the creation of objective reality. Decoherence is how the universe makes decisions. Trying to prevent decoherence (as quantum computing attempts) may be trying to prevent time itself from ticking.
Jack explaining decoherence as coherence in a discrete time model
Key Figures (8)
Ludwig Boltzmann
3 mentionsPhysicist
Albert Einstein
2 mentionsPhysicist
Claude Shannon
2 mentionsMathematician and engineer
Kurt Gödel
2 mentionsMathematician and logician
Stephen Wolfram
1 mentionsPhysicist and computer scientist
Erwin Schrödinger
1 mentionsPhysicist
Michael Saylor
1 mentionsCEO of MicroStrategy
Gigi (Bitcoin author)
1 mentionsBitcoin author and educator
Glossary (2)
quantized
DOMAIN_JARGONDivided into discrete, indivisible units rather than continuous values
“Bitcoin blocks are quantized: there is no valid half work or half hash.”
nonce
DOMAIN_JARGONNumber used once; in Bitcoin, a value miners adjust to find a valid block hash
“The resolution of a valid nonce from a sea of invalid nonces is work itself.”
Key People (5)
Kurt Godel
(1906–1978)Mathematician who proved incompleteness theorems
Albert Einstein
(1879–1955)Physicist who developed theory of relativity
Ludwig Boltzmann
(1844–1906)Physicist who developed statistical mechanics
Claude Shannon
(1916–2001)Mathematician who founded information theory
Erwin Schrodinger
(1887–1961)Physicist who developed the Schrodinger equation
Concepts (18)
Godel incompleteness theorems
CL_PHILOSOPHYProofs that formal systems cannot demonstrate all truths about themselves using only internal axioms
incompleteness
CL_PHILOSOPHYFormal property of systems lacking boundaries; cannot prove all truths internally
Planck time
CL_SCIENCEThe smallest theoretically meaningful unit of time where physics breaks down
quantized time
CL_SCIENCETime divided into discrete, indivisible units rather than being infinitely divisible
double-slit experiment
CL_SCIENCEQuantum experiment where particles behave as waves until observed
wave-particle duality
CL_SCIENCEQuantum property where entities exhibit both wave and particle behaviors depending on measurement
UTXO
CL_TECHNICALUnspent transaction output; the atomic unit of value in Bitcoin that can be spent once
mempool
CL_TECHNICALPool of unconfirmed Bitcoin transactions waiting to be included in a block
coordinate of time
CL_SCIENCESequential ordering of time blocks; in Bitcoin, the block height as the temporal coordinate system
spacetime
CL_SCIENCEEinstein unified framework treating time as a fourth dimension alongside three spatial dimensions
entropy
CL_SCIENCEMeasure of disorder or uncertainty in a system; in thermodynamics, relates to energy dispersal
Shannon entropy
CL_SCIENCEInformation entropy measuring uncertainty over symbols; units are bits of information
Boltzmann entropy
CL_SCIENCEThermodynamic entropy measuring microstates in phase space; units are joules per Kelvin
Planck temperature
CL_SCIENCETheoretical maximum temperature (~10^32 Kelvin) where known physics breaks down
Boltzmann constant
CL_SCIENCEPhysical constant relating energy to temperature; approximately 1.38 x 10^-23 joules per Kelvin
Schrodinger equation
CL_SCIENCEFundamental equation of quantum mechanics describing wave function evolution; assumes continuous time
superposition
CL_SCIENCEQuantum state where system exists in multiple states simultaneously until measured
decoherence
CL_SCIENCEProcess where quantum superposition breaks down into classical deterministic states
Synthesis
Synthesis
Migrated from Scholia