kameir

Requires Listening

Revisado: 08-20-22

Listtwn to this, to realize that it is now more important than ever to understand the history of the few modern freedom fighters.

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Errors in fundamentals (DLTs are not blockchains)

Revisado: 01-23-22

Easy listen, but the errors in fundamental understanding make this a three star rating: you simple cannot put the label 'crypto dad' on your book and not be able to explain crypto correctly.

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Fundamental errors in understanding the technology

Revisado: 11-03-19

Some fundamental errors in understanding the state and nature of blockchains make it difficult for the authors to come to the correct conclusions. For starters: blockchain and blockchain technology are very different things.
The term "blockchain technology" refers to a cryptographic encryption method which links hashed data in a consecutive manner, while the term "blockchain" by itself refers to a decentralized, open, public ledger that makes use of the aforementioned cryptographic implementation to time-stamp and secure transaction records. The latter implementation, which was introduced with the launch of the Bitcoin blockchain, is sometimes also (unnecessarily) referred to as public blockchain. The decentralization component of (public) blockchains makes transactions recorded in these types of ledgers extremely difficult to reverse. The necessary open collusion by a majority of network participants is unlikely to occur as the resulting distrust in the network would erode the colluding parties’ investment in computing power and/or allocation of virtual assets (stakes) in the blockchain needed for the manipulation to begin with. Because of these features, blockchains are also referred to as "trust-less networks," and the recorded transaction are considered immutable, a quality which enables peer-to-peer transactions of blockchain-native assets (coins) and digital assets created on a public blockchain via qualified smart contract.
It is also not helpful to view blockchains as databases or ledgers for that matter. The latter function is optional and not needed (and actually harmful) for most applications.
Most importantly, the authors fail to appreciate the state of money as legacy technology and the underlying problems currencies solve.

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esto le resultó útil a 3 personas

Unbeatable Combo

Revisado: 07-04-19

Daniel narrated by Jeff are a killer combo, I am not a fan boy of anything or anybody .. with this exception ;-)

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Wandering

Revisado: 07-04-19

The book is neither written as a concise historical account nor an accurate description of cash in general or digital cash in particular. It's a sort of wandering story of currencies and money, albeit mostly confusing and or conflating these two topics.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Misleading Title - Mostly "Winkelvi Memoirs"

Revisado: 06-07-19

Do not buy this if you expect to learn more about Bitcoin or its origin story. The first five hours are almost exclusively focused on the Winkelvoss twins, their family and a corrective account of the Facebook saga. This is very unfortunate, as the author is actually a really good writer.

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esto le resultó útil a 14 personas

Needs updating

Revisado: 10-07-18

In Money and the Mechanism of Exchange, William Stanley Jevons described money in terms of four functions: a medium of exchange, a unit of account, a standard of value, and a store of value. To this date, most economists will default to these criteria when contemplating the function of money in modern economies. However, in 1875 - the time Jevons wrote this definition - he was likely thinking of commodity money and had not been exposed to money created by government decree or cryptocurrencies. It is time to rethink the basic definition of money.

Money: A Really Short History*
As has been pointed out by monetary historians, money has historically taken on many different forms and still does to-date. Depending on the time and place, stones, shells, and cigarettes have been used as money, with the latter still being valid currency in many penitentiaries around the world today. This points to a key function of money: the parties of an exchange must agree what constitutes as money for every transaction they enter into. All other criteria, in essence, speak to the quality of that money in the eyes of third parties not involved in the transaction. As with any agreement, this - often unspoken - understanding of the transacting parties is the legal quality of money.

Currency: Solving the Double Coincidence of Wants Problem
Double coincidence of wants means that the parties of an exchange have to agree to sell and buy each other's commodities. The problem is, of course, the very high improbability of the wants, needs, or events that cause or motivate a transaction occurring at the same time and the same place. As correctly identified by Bitcoin's Whitepaper, this is the main problem that a currency (the paper refers to it as 'cash system') has to solve. And, which Bitcoin is indeed rather elegantly solving.

So, with this problem out of the way, the question that remains is (only) that of the quality of money. Here's where we can refer back to Jevons' historic money criteria.

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Mislabeled

Revisado: 08-26-18

The title suggests that the book would be dealing with Bitcoin, instead, it talks mostly about the gold standard and the history of money (albeit badly covered). The author seems to have picked the title to seem more current than what the content of the book provides.

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esto le resultó útil a 22 personas

A summary of delusions

Revisado: 12-01-14

Would you try another book from The Great Courses and/or Professor Jay L. Garfield?

Great Course: Yes. Garfield: Nope!

What do you think your next listen will be?

real science

Would you be willing to try another one of Professor Jay L. Garfield’s performances?

No way. It is a waste of your time

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

None. No contribution to the real world.

Any additional comments?

Don't buy!

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Rambling Pseudo Science

Revisado: 12-01-14

What would have made The Biology of Belief better?

A typical example of someone ignoring scientific research and worse basics of critical thinking. It's probably too late for Mr. Lipton to go back to school but he should at least get the basics right.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Real scientific writings.

Would you be willing to try another one of Bruce H. Lipton’s performances?

Very unlikely.

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

Very dissapointing .. huge waste of time.

Any additional comments?

Quote from the book 'science beliefs' .. really?! This statement should not be uttered by a twelve year old - much less by someone who supposedly graduated from college.

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona