By Tomer Strolight June 22, 2023

If you were to ask the question “What is man?” you might get a joking reply like “mostly water.” Such an answer wouldn’t be incorrect, but it would hardly be useful. It wouldn’t even tell you the difference between a man and a watermelon, or a cup of tea, both of which are also mostly water.

To be useful, you would need to go deeper and ask the question “What is the essence of man?” That’s a discussion that has been ongoing for thousands of years. I’ve personally thought about and discussed this topic a great deal, in large part because I want to understand what it is I am.

I’ve also been doing a lot of thinking about the question of “What is the essence of Bitcoin?”. I’ve been asking this because I am fascinated by Bitcoin. However, I also think Bitcoin is a reflection of some very particular things about man and his essence, so asking questions about Bitcoin actually provides answers about the essence of man and mankind as well.