Damus
Lyn Alden profile picture
Lyn Alden
@LynAlden
The majority of people have a strong tendency to want to be part of something that is bigger than themselves. It is why they not just get up in the morning, but why they are *energized* to get up in the morning.

Clans and religions were among the earliest bigger things. People know that they will die, and so they invest into their descendants, honor their ancestors, and contemplate metaphysics and the nature of life. Many people will willingly sacrifice themselves for their children or for their highest ideals because of this.

In the modern era of printing presses and telecommunication systems, there is also a broader set of choices for people to group together around, either combined with those other ones or sometimes instead of them. Sometimes they choose nationalism. Sometimes they fight for a political ideology that transcends borders. Sometimes it is a professional guild or professional recognition. Sometimes it is the environment. Right or left or anywhere in between, you can often tell what someone adheres to as their highest ideal.

A powerful exercise is to 1) identify what you feel a part of in the bigger sense (it could be a few things) and 2) whenever someone’s behavior confuses you, stop and think about what they likely feel a part of in a bigger sense, if anything. You might feel that what they associate with is fucking retarded, but if you can at least identify it, then that is the first step toward successful communication and debate and rebuttal.

Using myself as an example, my professional experience is in a combination of engineering and finance. Separately, my ethical philosophy is grounded in virtue ethics (that’s a whole other longwinded topic), and as a result, what I feel a part of in a bigger sense is various social movements and protocols that utilize technology to bring financial autonomy to people. That’s where I put my time and capital toward.

Successful commerce involves the combination of value and communication. Therefore, I want people to be able to communicate freely and transfer value freely. As such, I strongly associate with the leading technologies in those fields, such as Bitcoin and Nostr.

If I thought they were weak, I would sympathize with them but not invest in them or have much hope for them. That was my view for a while. But if I view them as technically capable and achieving of network effects, then my rationality combines with my sympathy and becomes full support.

I don’t care what peoples’ race, sex, orientation, ethnicity, or nationality is. Instead, what I care about is doing whatever tiny part I can to bring technologies to people that allow them to transfer value and information to others, or to educate people on those technologies, etc. That is where my time and capital is focused on. Outside of family, that is what makes me energized in the morning to work toward.

What is yours?
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DevinNButterBall · 106w
I’m passionate about freedom. Bitcoin brought me to freedom and I didn’t realize that’s what really makes me tick, or energized and fulfilled. I want people to be able to do their weird thing without asking permission (so long as it hurts nobody). How I exercise that is disobeying rules I thin...
DevinNButterBall · 106w
And my dog butter obvi https://m.primal.net/HncH.jpg
Foxfire Mushrooms · 106w
Growing mushrooms for sats! 🍄
StackSats.IO · 106w
Separating money and state.
ronniesamuel · 106w
This 👆🏾 resonates with me to the core. Literally 💯
Shogun · 106w
I’m just trying to get 8 hours of sleep a night
Mike · 106w
I take the more Objectivist view. My own happiness is the moral purpose of my life. I love people and trade but have no sense of duty to others.
Monika Burra · 106w
Helping people heal their trauma and let go of any limiting beliefs, trapped emotions and physical ailments so that they can remember who they truly are,- ultimately embodied consciousness. Sovereign like a cell, yet part of the collective body of all that is. I believe that if we are all aware of t...
Ulysses · 106w
The purpose of life is not to live forever, but instead help build something that will
Shivatoshi Nanamota · 106w
Everything you know is what has been poured into you from the time you opened your eyes. there is no such thing as purpose in life independent from what those that came before you told you what your purpose in life is in many different ways.
Theory of Everything · 106w
Digital animation has become an extension of my creative life. Making things with my hands has always been a part of my life and how I soothe myself. For a long time I was drawing illustrations of the Calabi-Yau manifold, An 18+ dimensional object. The process of learning to animate these shapes too...
47 · 106w
“You might feel that what they associate with is fucking retarded” 😂
Nic · 106w
Indépendance. As far as I can remember, I've always enjoyed doing my own thing, on my own terms. I wanted to go to a private school for a better education and play high level hockey. My parents didn't have the money for me to go to a non-public school or pay for the goalie equipment. At the age ...
FooBear · 106w
Great post Lyn! Very succinct
Bearetta left · 106w
Found out last year it's rockmetal opera. Nothing better to figure out inner demons than let them do their thing on the stage among blowing fires and live music. Will stay around entertainment for a while. Next to releasing pressure of finally finding my own persona at 36, I found out there's no sha...
gotham_now · 106w
I enjoy knowledge for its own sake. I have always held that truth is worth pursuing. I’m excited if I can learn something new, whatever that may be. My day gets even better if I can apply that knowledge to achieving a goal, making a process better, or otherwise improving a situation. I’ve come...
Narwhal Tacos · 106w
This. So well written I swooned. Appreciate people like you Lyn, who have the energy still to fight on the frontlines. You matter.
Kontext · 106w
I try to push forward the ideals of love and freedom in everything they entail, as I believe it is the only way we can truly flourish as a civilization and escape the "great reset" (whether that comes in the form of authoritarian centralized institutions or a natural disaster). At the crux of it, I ...
CaqKa · 106w
Hi Lyn, great thoughts. I my self am also a electrical engineer and this has enabled me to look at money as a system. How to invest in bitcoin is very obvious for me. How to invest in nostr? Besides using it. Thanks for sharing your ideas about the world.
Darien J · 106w
To inspire and encourage creativity in others. To this end, Bitcoin has enabled me to invest in the tools to create something unique that I can share with the world.
Menno Reitse Bouma · 106w
I feel very similar to what you wrote down and would be interested to read about the whole other longwinded topic 🤩
Sedj · 106w
Outside of family, i would say community, perhaps even brotherhood. This is why I found the motorcycle community so well-equipped to meet something I had been missing in the digital world, which is I have worked for the last couple decades.
Bing · 106w
Please write about virtue ethics Lyn. 🙏🏻
nostrich · 106w
second this! deontology vs utilitarianism debate is constant but we never hear from the virtue ethicists
RedEye · 106w
What makes me tick is just the same as everyone else I would imagine. I want to be part of humanity and the world at large and try to do it well and enjoy it as much as possible.
SovereignArab · 106w
Similarly I’m also devoting my time and energy towards open protocols. The current escalation of violence and suppression against my people has only strengthened my resolve and lit a fire under my ass. We need to opt out of fiat funded forever wars. We need open communications protocol to neutrali...
Danny · 106w
Technology and Freedom are my two core values, and what I try to propel forward every day. I would call myself a Cypherpunk. I love technology, the invention of the transistor has propelled humanity forward in an unparalleled way. We went from crude mechanical systems to sophisticated digital realm...
Bitcoin-enforces-sound-money-peacefully · 106w
Well unfortunately race (dna pools) matters a lot, but that aside consider this...... what's happening now is a new situation in all of human history but with some echoes of the past All organized human groups require a narrative to keep them stable, typically this was done with a religion, religio...
nostrich · 106w
I know deep deep deep down i will die one day and i hate loss.
frphank · 106w
> The majority of people have a strong tendency to want to be part of something that is bigger than themselves. This was popular once: https://nostrcheck.me/media/47be0b2a89faaa66bc57f5c679203486da45660295cb3db3c2f38f4be8d8816e/6b6bce814d70c3324fd2a2a5246aa8218e348c28348b391560abc7f6c8d4dc9e.webp
Andy · 106w
Adding efficiency in design or process to reduce costs wherever possible. That's pretty generalized and is just my job, so I don't know what I really feel part of besides a broad contribution to the world. Besides that, I like to promote freedom or the idea of freedom.
frphank · 106w
“The individual has always had to struggle to keep from being overwhelmed by the tribe. To be your own man is a hard business. If you try it, you’ll be lonely often, and sometimes frightened. But no price is too high to pay for the privilege of owning yourself.” (Rudyard Kipling in 1935)
Hack0 · 106w
Whenever I see bitcoin for (insert group here) it always makes me do a double take. My mindset has been if you understand bitcoin all the groups don’t matter
Gabriel · 106w
In a world of uncertainty, knowledge is power. Join RCL VIP newsletter community and gain access to invaluable insights that will keep you optimistic and informed, no matter the market trend. Utilise with high passive algorithm tools – gain access to multi-chain ecosystems. https://t.me/rebelcapit...
Pocket · 106w
I enjoy your gifts of intelligence, communication, and bravery. Thanks Lyn. I care about emotionally supporting life, including plants, animals, and people. Perhaps we don’t have emotion… I just wanted to include all living things 🙂
zebra · 106w
My problem with to be a part of something bigger is that in this case you draw a line - inside vs outside. and then if I criticize someones ideas he marks me as an outsider and vice versa. we suddenly marks people just by inside/outside criteria. I consider myself as bitcoiner but I'm not ready to a...
Satoshi Samourai · 105w
nostr:note10ct52vudgaqnldazj66tvxa2cuhjwckd2h2xarjz7wepduwy2cksqg7um2
kbuybo · 105w
non-aplicable