What Is Acceleration Theory?

Bitcoiners are good with reason, they can understand math, code, language, and combine it with lived experience to conclude that the emergent phenomenon of Bitcoin is the only answer to a broken system. Every Bitcoiner you know fits the archetype of a free thinker, someone who is a self-sufficient pioneer, likes to take action and lead the charge - the archetype of a sigma.

To be a Bitcoiner means to essentially belong to a small group of pioneers who saw the problem of fiat early and joined the Bitcoin network as a means to kickstart the solution. We are more so part of a principle-driven movement that gives us a sense of purpose–this aspect of Bitcoin is one most misunderstood by outsiders.

Bitcoin isn't about improving or coexisting with the legacy system. It is about starting a new one, it’s less about financial gain and more about communicating value without the influence of so called “trusted” intermediaries. Most can't understand Bitcoin because it does not abide by the limitations of the current system. A nepotistic system mathematically programmed to fail. There exists no solution inside the system. The only solution is to switch to a new system, entirely - Bitcoin.

For that reason, It is difficult to orange-pill those who don't fit the Sigma archetype because they have been heavily conditioned to accept the current system's inadequacies, and are easily troubled by anything that contradicts it. Given this, the motivation for them to spend the requisite hours, which total hundreds if not thousands, to educate themselves on Bitcoin, is nearly non-existent. The emergent phenomenon of Bitcoin is so complex we can barely even conceive of it, as the language we currently have available to us does not possess the proper semantics to encapsulate such a novel technology.

Language, as an abstract concept, serves as a collective operating system for communication. Represented symbolically through sound and light, we derive meaning from it objectively. Despite its crucial role in human interaction, language doesn't fundamentally exist but is a logical system understood through first principles. It aims to elevate communication beyond instinctual means, facilitating the conveyance of broader concepts that can't be expressed instinctively or derived from zero principles.

The Roman numeral for two illustrates our instinctive recognition of symbolic representation. For numbers exceeding this instinctive understanding, we've crafted an abstract system grounded in logic and problem-solving. For example, 55 is not a tangible concept but a symbol we universally trust to denote a specific value, enabling large-scale communication.

Articulating certain concepts without symbolic representation is difficult. For Bitcoin, language alone can't enable mass adoption without symbolic systems for proper articulation. Thus, reaching hyperbitcoinization is only possible through zero principles, or lived experience.

Acceleration theory suggests that the faster tyranny is implemented, the more it motivates the public to act to evade it. Rather than trying to repair a failed system, we should allow the state's incompetence to drive society to such discomfort that people will learn through lived experience that the state should never have controlled money.

Explaining Bitcoin's fundamental premise to a newcomer involves arguing that we don't need large government entities controlling civilization's base layer communication system, a concept we've been conditioned to accept. When introducing Bitcoin, objections often arise regarding the personal responsibility its use entails. Many haven't yet been given a reason to distrust the third parties handling their money.

Similar to a child needing to touch a hot stove to understand the pain it causes, the only way for most to instinctively grasp this is for these institutions to fail them.

Understanding Bitcoin demands a paradigm shift: humanity has the right to store its wealth independently, immune to destruction, debasement, or tampering by any other entity. Bitcoiners have learned this through their unique lived experiences and firsthand knowledge in various fields, including technology, economics, computer science, and more, along with thousands of hours dedicated to learning about Bitcoin.

By all appearances, it seldom crosses the minds of most people that we can function as a society that has rules without rulers. It is unlikely the masses can reach such a conclusion through education, as it will only appeal to a certain archetype. Those who do not fit the archetype will probably never come to embrace the philosophical movement behind Bitcoin. They will only learn to use it functionally. And that's okay, but we must agree that fiat is mathematically programmed to collapse, and it is not in the best interest of humanity to continue kicking the can of fiat down the road. Every extension of fiat's lifespan expands its capacity to inflict pain and suffering."

We can already see examples of acceleration happening in third-world countries. The highest rates of Bitcoin adoption among citizens are all in countries that have seen extreme cases of hyperinflation and centralized planning, such as Venezuela, Zimbabwe and Nigeria.

In 2018, Venezuela experienced inflation rates of 130,000%, reducing its currency's value to that of toilet paper. Consequently, citizens instinctively choose to use Bitcoin, the hardest form of money ever to exist, a decision many in first-world countries haven't yet been compelled to make. In the U.S. and Canada, Bitcoin is primarily seen as an investment, something to buy and later sell or trade. However, in the aforementioned countries, it's used as a functional currency and store of value. Ultimately, it's all about incentives, and most Western nations lack sufficient motivation to fully adopt Bitcoin.

The fact that most people think this is too much work or responsibility is simply because they are not yet incentivized to do so. They have forsaken personal responsibility and control in exchange for comfort and less freedom, something they will never desire to break free from if tyranny is implemented slowly, just like a frog boiling in water that doesn't realize it is boiling to death.

Allowing the state to continue printing money will never allow society to progress productively. More money will just be printed, and a genuinely free market will never be able to flourish. The notion that Fiat and Bitcoin can coexist peacefully, in the long run, is absurd. It is either one or the other, a world of fiat-driven statesim or a Bitcoin standard of individual sovereignty and prosperity.

The slow burn of money debasement does not allow the masses to realize what is happening to them. If the West were to experience the levels of inflation seen in third-world countries, we very well could see Hyperbitcoinization overnight.

Acceleration theory posits that human actions are incentivized, based on either zero or first principles. Given the difficulty of explaining Bitcoin in everyday language, hyperbitcoinization is more likely to result from zero principles. Humans often resist change when comfortable, so being pushed out of our comfort zone is necessary to realize that Bitcoin offers the only path to liberate humanity from oppressive nation-states.

Brain scans of drug addicts provide a compelling example, showing the gray matter in the cerebral cortex, responsible for abstract reasoning, shrinking while the limbic system, responsible for emotional thinking and impulsivity, exhibits increased activity. The state's money printing resembles drug addiction; it's a temporary solution to a larger issue, akin to applying a band-aid to a severed limb. It triggers unforeseen ripple effects on societal function, lowering the consciousness of all participants. Communicating to an addict the necessity to quit rarely works; only when they hit rock bottom, experiencing unbearable discomfort, do they stop, driven not by logic but by instinct.

The comfort zone is where dreams go to die, and only outside of it is where growth and the pursuit of higher meaning are found. We will continue the same behaviour no matter how detrimental, the same way an addict will not quit until they hit rock bottom. Acceleration theory suggests we must hit rock bottom as soon as possible so hyperbitcoinization can flourish and usher in the golden age of a post-fiat world.

Conclusion

"We have reached a crossroads in the age of humanity. One road leads to a Bitcoin standard, and the other a technocratic dystopia.

The current system is guaranteed with absolute certainty to fail. Trying to fix the system from within is just putting duct tape on a burst dam. Fixing the problem of fiat by using reason and logic to alert people to both the problem and solution can't work because. One, the vast majority of the population does not fit the archetype of being able to resonate with Bitcoin's underlying philosophy. Two, the amount of information one must consume in order to understand it is such an undertaking, most will simply not devote the time to it. The only way its essential nature can be understood is through the lived experience of fiat's collapse.

Both options entail high degrees of discomfort, the former quickly and swiftly and then into an age of prosperity, and the latter slow and painful with a high degree of uncertainty. We are currently presented with a choice and a hard one at that. There is a quote by former Olympic weightlifter Jerry Gregorek that goes, 'Hard choices, easy life, Easy choices, hard life.'

The fact is that human existence is filled with pain. Either the pain resulting from the consequences of easy choices or the pain of making the hard choice and the work that comes with it to exit the comfort zone in pursuit of higher truth and meaning.

So what will you choose? The hard choice acceleration? Or the easy choice, the continued cycle of statist empires perpetuated by the debasement of money or the path of hyperbitcoinization and self-sovereignty?"

Acknowledgments

thanks to @finaldenominatr on Twitter for providing the inspiration and main idea for this article. Their valuable input and insights were instrumental in shaping the direction of my thesis. I would also like to thank Jesse Berger (@jayberjay) for his exceptional writing advice and editing assistance. His feedback and guidance were crucial in helping me refine my work and communicate my ideas effectively. Thank you both for your contributions to this article. Lastly, I would like to thank the reader for taking the time to read my article. If you enjoyed my writing please feel free to subscribe to my substack to stay up to date with my future works, and also give me a follow on Twitter @JaredWeber21.