The possibility of reviving traditional Chinese culture in Web3

Are Chinese inferior to foreigners?

Most of the people at the Hong Kong Web3 Carnival are Chinese, and most of the lectures and activities are mainly in Chinese. In fact, since 2013 when I entered the scene, Chinese have always been an important participant in the blockchain field. At that time, there were Friedcat and Avalon Miner, Bitcoin China, Huobi, etc., and China occupied half of the entire Bitcoin mining and exchange. Today, although mining and exchanges have been banned, more Chinese developers, capital parties and investors continue to participate in this wave in various forms, unwilling to fall behind.

But Chinese players often belittle themselves, saying that "Chinese projects are not played by dogs", and they also pull foreigners to endorse things that are obviously Chinese, or simply pretend to be foreigners.

The prejudice against Chinese projects seems to be justifiable, because Chinese project parties are accustomed to cutting leeks and cheating many people. But if you think about it carefully, there are actually quite a few “big cuts” in the West. There was Fat Fat from Mt.gox, CSW who pretended to be Satoshi Nakamoto, and SBF from FTX who cut Wall Street together… They cut the leeks much more ruthlessly than the Chinese bosses. Among the Chinese who are also engaged in exchanges, Yang Linke in the front and Zhao Changpeng in the back are relatively well-behaved. Wu Jihan, who is also engaged in forks, is consistent in his words and deeds and bets all his family, which is more decent than CSW. Even the "Sun Cut" who is often ridiculed has not actually done a big sin, and can only be ashamed of himself compared with those Western big cuts.

Of course, I am not going to reverse the map cannon to bombard Westerners. In fact, whether it is Chinese or foreigners, there are many people who cut the leeks. This is a phenomenon that the entire crypto movement must experience in this early stage.

Blockchain is a wild new continent, a "no man's land" in the digital world. History has proven that in the early stages of the exploration and development of the New World, chaos and theft were rampant, which was normal. As the saying goes, heroes emerge in troubled times. If order is established too early without experiencing relatively wild competition, then this order is probably a simple continuation of the old order. And to start over, break the old world, and build a new world, chaos must be experienced.

In this no-man's land, those who were able to make a fortune quickly in the early days were often not elegant gentlemen. Many of the pioneers who first opened up the frontiers in the Western Age of Exploration were also frustrated, heretics, hooligans, pirates, criminals, etc.

Blockchain Chronicles

Speaking of this, I would like to repeat my "Chronicles of the New World". I think that starting from the discovery of the no-man's land, the development of the New World can be divided into the following five stages.

1. Exploration stage

The first stage began with Columbus and Satoshi Nakamoto, whose feat was to discover the New World - a rich unowned land. They didn't know what this continent would look like, but they knew they were trying to get rid of the old order and find a new way out.

2. Pioneering stage

When people discovered that the New World was a brand new wilderness, not the rich East, some people might be disappointed, but others might be more excited. Because the New World is unknown and there are too many uncertainties. Therefore, merchants who pursue certainty prefer to go past the Cape of Good Hope and continue the traditional way of trade. Those who dare to explore the New World often do not have strong resources or backgrounds in the old world. What they value is not so much the resources of the New World as the "unowned" environment, which makes it easier for adventurers to start from scratch.

So the New World at this stage was in chaos and disorder, with privateering rampant, and of course order began to be established spontaneously.

At this stage, gold diggers and rare treasures trade were the mainstream, and adventurers needed to bring their wealth back to the Old World to cash it in. Miners, currency speculators and pyramid schemers could easily make money during this period. In short, since most people were too unfamiliar and afraid of the New World, whoever was bold enough could make a fortune at this stage.

3. Colonization stage

The third is the colonization stage, and of course there are overlaps between these stages. The pioneering stage refers to the initial establishment of order from the wilderness, but the worldview and values ​​of the pioneers are still centered on the Old World. The economy of the New World did not form its own system, but ultimately had to be cashed in the Old World.

But at the same time, there are also a group of people who try to build their homes in the New World and focus their lives on the New World, including that they may spend most of their lives in the New World, and the profits they earn can be increasingly cashed in the New World. These people are no longer adventurers, but colonists.

There are two types of motivations for colonists. One is driven by commercial interests. After the initial stage, it is no longer profitable to simply pick up gold or rare treasures in the New World. It is necessary to establish a more stable and lasting business model, such as establishing plantations or bases to provide stable output. And these bases always need someone to take care of them for a long time, which requires a group of immigrants who are willing to live in the New World for a long time. The values ​​of this group of people still belong to the old world. They are attached to large institutions such as the East India Company, or large capital such as Wall Street today, working for them and helping capitalists seize and manage the wealth of the New World. But their own lives and work have gradually shifted to the New World, so they will also have the desire to take root in the New World.

There are also some colonists who are driven by faith. They are often frustrated people in the Old World. They try to escape the corrupt or solidified environment of the Old World and come to the New World with ideals and beliefs to build a free home.

As for the Age of Exploration, the corresponding ones are the Jesuits and the Puritans. The Jesuits who believe in Catholicism feel the threat of Protestantism in the Old World and find it difficult to open up the situation, so they actively go to the East or the New World to spread the doctrine; while the Puritans are disgusted with Catholicism, believing that the reform of the Church of England is not thorough, and Protestants are still persecuted, so they hope to build an ideal home in the New World.

In the end, Catholicism achieved considerable results in South America, and the Mayflower, full of Puritans, took root in North America.

Corresponding to the history of blockchain, I think we are roughly in this colonial stage now. On the one hand, the old money of the Old World began to establish permanent institutions in the New World, trying to monopolize the profit output of the New World; on the other hand, more and more people who were dissatisfied in the Old World devoted themselves to the New World with all kinds of ideals and beliefs, trying to establish a spiritual home in the New World.

4. Independence Revolution

After that, it was time for the independence revolution. With the increase of colonists in the New World and the fullness of the economic system, more and more people were not satisfied with being the cash machines of the old money of the Old World. They were still willing to trade with the Old World, but they demanded to be out of the control of the Old World. Therefore, they would eventually establish an independent political system in the New World with a new system. The independence of the United States proved that the independence revolution was possible and progressive. Of course, this revolution is not necessarily successful. Whether the future of blockchain will always be controlled by the order of the Old World or whether it can successfully form independence is still undecided and requires further efforts. I hope that the "network state" will definitely replace the "nation-state" and become an independent new order.

5. Counterattack the Old World

After the establishment of the new order, the thriving new world will eventually surpass the old world and become the leader of the world order. On the other hand, the contradictions in the old world are becoming increasingly intensified, and the old order is collapsing on its own, and even heading towards a "world war". However, due to the independence of space and system, the new world will be able to survive the war and accelerate its development, and eventually re-establish the world order and lead the world's culture and economy. The old world will eventually willingly transport gold to the new world, anchor the currency in the new world, and even align its concepts and systems with the new world. This is my ideal "Bitcoin standard" era.

Faith

Since we are in this position of benchmarking the "Mayflower", what I want to focus on today is what kind of faith we can have.

In my article "The Three Great Crypto Renaissances", I regard "faith" as one of the three important elements of human society, along with thought and power.

It should be noted that faith does not necessarily resort to religion. Religion is just a form of carrying faith. The faith I am talking about here is broad. Everyone has some faith to a greater or lesser extent, and every society or culture must also contain the dimension of faith.

What is faith? In short, faith is something that provides transcendental meaning.

The pursuit of "meaning" is a characteristic of human beings and a manifestation of "free will" - if your behavior is out of free will, it means that you are not acting out of instinct or blind obedience, but out of your own weighing or planning. You do what you think is meaningful, and this is the manifestation of your freedom.

In addition to the meaning of the game being intrinsic, the meaning of many actions must appeal to external things, such as working to make money, making money to buy a house, buying a house to get married, getting married to have a baby, and so on. We constantly entrust our lives to the next life. But everyone's sustenance will encounter a desperate limit, that is, the finiteness of life - personal life is limited and so short.

Some individuals may be able to live a normal life without considering any transcendental pursuit, but human society as a whole cannot be maintained under the premise of completely excluding transcendence. In fact, transcending mortality is the eternal theme of human civilization and the driving force of thought and technology. Scientists may not believe in heaven or the afterlife, but naming their names after a constant is the highest honor that most scientists will not refuse. Writers and artists, craftsmen and engineers all hope that their works will remain in the world, and the most ordinary people often entrust their future to their children.

The pursuit of transcendental meaning is the commonality of human civilization; and the specific way to entrust transcendence reflects the differences of human civilization. Different times and different cultures have different ways of pursuit.

So in today's information age, what can we still believe in?

Transcendence of Reality

The transcendence I mentioned above refers to transcendence of individual human life, but it does not necessarily require transcendence of the human group or even the entire real world. However, in Western culture, things that provide transcendental meaning are often transcendental existences. The latter "transcendence" refers to things that transcend the real world and transcend actual experience. The other side of the world, the Last Judgment, the reincarnation of the soul, the six reincarnations... Western and Indian religions provide these transcendental existences to satisfy people's pursuit of transcendental meaning.

But there are also some things that carry transcendental pursuits that are real in themselves, such as truth, goodness, beauty, dignity, justice, and posthumous reputation.

The so-called "Life is precious, love is more precious, if it is for freedom, both can be abandoned", this poem talks about two meanings that transcend individual life: love and freedom. The same is true of Mencius's "sacrifice life for righteousness". There are also scientists fighting for priority and naming rights, which is also a kind of "posthumous reputation". There are also people with lofty ideals who say "everyone has to die since ancient times, but I will leave my loyalty to shine in history", which is to regard history books as the carrier of transcendental meaning.

This kind of way of pursuing transcendence in the real world exists in both Eastern and Western societies, but it is more prominent in traditional Chinese culture.

In short, the way to transcend the limitations of the individual self is to expand the narrow self to a higher level of self. In Western religions, this transcendental self is an immortal soul and the essence of my self in the transcendental world. In Chinese culture, the direction of self-transcendence is "self → world". In the final analysis, this real world that leaves my mark is regarded as the continuation of my individual life.

To be continued...