RRR26: Claude Projects, Discussing Bitcoin w/Claude, JFK and The Cold War, State Climate Summaries, 2024-25 Preseason NBA Thoughts v.1
👷🏻♂️⚒🥇⚠☀🌊🏀
I’m a proud subscriber of Claude Pro. The main selling point for me was their “Projects” feature which allows you to upload relevant knowledge that can be stored in the context window.
Claude can then access that context to help provide helpful responses to prompts within the confines of the project where that knowledge lives.
It has been largely an incredible experience thus far.
That is not to say it is immune to the occasional AI gaffe — here’s what it had to say when I asked it about the best AI image generational tools out there:
😅😅.
The feature development happening with these LLM providers is crazy. I have purchased, cancelled, and repurchased subscriptions to many of them countless times to try and take advantage of the most useful features.
I get the sense that Projects was a big innovation. The ability to upload relevant context that can be repeatedly referenced in new conversations is an obvious improvement, as is the ability to collaborate with others in a single space.
In Recent Times…
Have you ever spoken with a true believer in bitcoin?
Not someone who just wants to talk about the amazing appreciation of their bitcoin holdings, but an individual who cannot fathom why everyone isn’t at least 25% or more of their assets in bitcoin?
I was fortunate to have a conversation with such an individual recently. I had left most of my curiosity about bitcoin in the past — but this conversation re-sparked my interest.
When speaking with bitcoin enthusiasts, it’s difficult not to leave the conversation wondering what you had been missing out on all that time. It’s also hard not to leave the conversation confused.
So I fired up Claude to ask its opinion on the matter. It was a great conversation!
After giving me a pretty generic spiel on how the scarcity of Bitcoin makes it valuable, I tried to pry more out of my AI friend:
Me: What inherently makes something valuable just because it’s scarce? For example, rare earth elements are scarce, just like bitcoin. Elements, however, unlike bitcoin, have practical utility that isn’t reliant on demand for its existence. What makes a bitcoin inherently useful? For example, if global currencies are simply made digital, doesn’t it deliver the same basic value as bitcoin?
You're absolutely right that scarcity alone doesn't inherently create value. The relationship between scarcity and value is more complex:
Scarcity can contribute to value when combined with demand or perceived utility.
Many scarce things have no significant value because there's no demand for them.
Your example of rare elements is spot-on. Some scarce elements are valuable due to their utility (like platinum in catalytic converters), while others remain relatively worthless despite their rarity.
Bitcoin's utility: This is a crucial question. Bitcoin's proposed utilities include:
Store of value: Similar to gold, but without physical storage requirements.
Medium of exchange: Potentially faster and cheaper than traditional international transfers.
Censorship resistance: Transactions can't be easily blocked by governments.
Programmable money: Smart contracts and decentralized finance applications.
However, these utilities are debated:
Store of value: Bitcoin's volatility challenges this claim.
Medium of exchange: Traditional financial systems are evolving to be faster and cheaper.
Censorship resistance: This feature is controversial and may face regulatory challenges.
Programmable money: Other cryptocurrencies often have more advanced features in this area.
Digital currencies and Bitcoin: Your point about digital currencies potentially rendering Bitcoin useless is insightful. Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs) are being developed by many countries. These could indeed address some of the issues Bitcoin purports to solve, such as:
Fast, cheap transfers
Programmable money features
Digital storage and transactions
However, Bitcoin proponents argue that it still offers unique features:
Decentralization: No single entity controls Bitcoin, unlike CBDCs.
Fixed supply: Unlike government-issued currencies, Bitcoin's supply is capped.
Neutrality: Bitcoin isn't tied to any specific country or economy.
Critical analysis: The question of Bitcoin's inherent value remains contentious. Critics argue that its value is primarily speculative and based on the belief that others will value it in the future. Supporters contend that its unique properties give it utility that will persist even in a world of widespread digital currencies.
Ultimately, Bitcoin's long-term value and utility will depend on:
Technological developments in both Bitcoin and traditional finance
Regulatory environments
Public perception and adoption
Its ability to provide unique value propositions not met by other systems
It is truly amazing how thoughtful Claude was throughout our chat.
I peppered it on other things, such as the current adoption rates of bitcoin, whether or not it thought bitcoins design as an inherently deflationary currency was a good thing, the lightning network, and much more.
Never did it waiver in its commitment to complete answers, it never lost control of its emotions, and it was a great listener.
AI can teach us a thing or two about how to communicate with one another 🤔.
For what it’s worth, I still do not understand the value of bitcoin. I need to know how bitcoin would:
Become widely held across the worlds population
Unseat government backed currencies
Make its transactions remarkably cheaper
Protect people holding and transacting bitcoin from fraud and theft without sacrificing its decentralized principles
Yet, I’m committed to maintaining my curiosity, at least for now.
Content Corner 📖🎙📺
JFK and the Unspeakable, by James Douglas
I started a new audiobook (no, I’m not done with The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich 😟)
The book is worth a read not for its provocative assertions about a conspiracy to murder JFK (although, that part is obviously interesting as well). I’ve been mostly struck by the details surrounding the immense pressure heaped onto JFK to continuously escalate during the cold war.
Military advisors and various powerful governmental institutions were incessantly recommending increased militarization, actions that threatened the sovereignty of other nations, and even went so far as to push for a preemptive nuclear strike against Russia! 🤯🤯.
Increasingly, I feel as though JFK and his close confidants are a massive factor in the possibility of my existence 😅.
How do we get clean drinking water?
It’s insane to underestimate the amount of things that need to happen for people to have widespread access to drinkable water.
It’s insane to underestimate the amount of things many of us take for granted.
State Climate Summaries
Recently, I was taking a look at how the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is projecting and classifying environmental risks to various places in the U.S.
For most of the projections they give a range based on “higher emissions” and “lower emissions”. I would bet good money we will drastically lower emissions over the next ten to fifteen years, but I also hope to god I’m right! If we don’t, there are some truly horrifying possibilities on the table:
I personally will never forget the flooding that occurred in Philadelphia in 2021 due to intense rainfall from Hurricane Ida. The Schuylkill River was literally flowing through the first floor of our apartment and my buddy lost his car (it got swept down the street and destroyed). The scary thing is that the Schuylkill is actually not the biggest worry. Instead, on the east side of the city, the portion of the Delaware River that rolls by is an estuary 😳.
If these projections are remotely accurate, which I have no reason at this time to doubt, it looks like things can and will get a lot worse.
Let’s look at some other highlights — here’s a little word on California:
Naturally occurring droughts are expected to become more intense. Even if precipitation increases in the future, rising temperatures will increase the rate of soil moisture loss during dry spells, further reducing streamflow and water supplies. As a result, wildfires are projected to become more frequent and severe.
Rising temperatures also raise concerns for sea level rise in coastal areas. Since 1900, global average sea level has risen by about 7–8 inches. It is projected to rise another 1–8 feet, with a likely range of 1–4 feet, by 2100…
Also, check out these rapidly increasing temperatures in Maine winters:
If you’re morbidly curious, check out the state summaries page here.
Preseason NBA Thoughts v.1
Hard to believe we’re a month-or-so away from the tip-off of the 2024-25 NBA season. I’ll certainly have more comprehensive thoughts to air out, but here are a few things I’m keeping my eye on:
Keon Ellis - Sacramento Kings
Lost in the shuffle of the elite western conference was a sneaky breakout season for the 24-year-old 2-guard.
The Kings had a weird-but-good offseason, adding DeMar DeRozan, a weird-but-good player to their already weird-but-good star tandem of De’Aaron Fox and Domantas Sabonis.
Amongst all that unconventional star power, the Kings surely need some more traditional skillsets to balance them out, and I believe Keon Ellis can be just that.
He has the potential to be a real “3-and-D” player, vs. some of the more theoretical ones that don’t shoot the three very well and don’t defend very well.
Welcome back, Ja Morant.
After the tumultuous period of scary gaffes that got Ja Morant suspended for the first 25 games of last year, a bad injury kept him out for nearly the entire season.
As a result, we haven’t seen one of the more electric talents to ever grace the NBA stage in a long time. That is probably a good thing, as he’s had plenty of time to address whatever was causing some of the self-destructive moves he was making. Any normal person just wants to see Ja healthy and happy.
Now, the stage is set for him to remind us all what we’ve been missing while he’s been out. Last year made it abundantly clear — the Memphis Grizzlies have nothing without Ja Morant.
That’s not a slight to their very respectable cast of complimentary players, but without Ja, the offense simply sputters into oblivion.
What are the Orlando Magic?
The Magic were a story of intrigue each of the last two seasons, and their impressive young tandem of wing players Paolo Banchero and Franz Wagner clearly has upside from here.
Yet, they don’t have an overwhelming amount of players that you’d feel comfortable saying are long-term fits with the team. Jalen Suggs may be one of those guys, and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope was a great steady veteran to add in the offseason, but I’m not seeing exactly what the long-term vision is, unless they think Paolo and Franz is good enough of a one-two combination to take them somewhere interesting.
I suspect it isn’t.
In a Eastern Conference that is begging for another team or two to seize relevance, there’s going to be major disappointment in Orlando if they can’t make a serious run in the playoffs.