Truth & Code: The Future is Black and White

Lago Atitlan

Block 7,908,372

Fabian had a great weekend in El Zonte; it was time to start his trek to Guatemala. Since it was the beginning of the week, he decided to check in with the office.

He ordered coffee and croissants this morning. A little treat for the calorie burn surfing over the weekend. He had his share of papusas as well. No matter, croissants and coffee for this morning.

His work monitors for this morning were the big windows and the view of the pacific ocean. He called in to check with the team and spent about nine blocks reviewing the network and data analysis.

“OK, guys, this sounds great. I think I’ll be working remotely for most of the week; call me if you have any issues I need to address.

“Sounds good, boss.” He hears on the other side.

“Perfect.”

Fabian loads up his gear, heads down to the lobby to ensure he’s all squared away, and then heads over to the adjacent lot where he’s parked his bike.

“Now for the long ride up to Lago Atitlan. This is going to be epic!”

He pulls out of the hotel parking lot.

“Thrux, plot a scenic route to Panajachel, Guatemala.”

The HUD immediately presents the first set of directions, and Fabian sets off.

He’s back on old highway 2, which will take him straight into the state of Guatemala. Arbitrary borders for the sake of politics and ideology evaporated during the Renaissance of Man’s Reason. He was going to have a blast, going as fast as he wanted here in the lowlands of El Salvador and Guatemala before making the ascent into the highlands of western Guatemala.

Tearing through the western part of El Salvador and western Guatemala up to Escuintla, he saw miles and miles of vast sugar cane fields. This area of central America was always a powerhouse for sugar cane exportation. After the Renaissance, these lands were decentralized, and local farmers sold their sugar cane at fair market prices without the oligopolies of the predominantly agricultural, industrial, and pharmaceutical complexes that controlled so many central and south American countries in what used to be called the global south. People, families, and the following generations took pride in what they produced and brought forth from the land. Like any good chef will tell you, “The secret ingredient is love.” These farmers’ secret fertilizer was love.

Fabian was making a good pace, stopping a few times to stretch and top off himself and the bike. This ride was less about the ride than it was about the destination. Volcan de Fuego had been active as usual. He was amazed at the plumes of smoke coming from it. It was on his right shoulder for a considerable distance.

When he arrived at Cocales, he headed north on highway 11 to start the ascent into the mountains.

He knew what lay ahead; the twisties. If that thought didn’t bring a smile to a motorcyclist’s face, they were probably a poser. Some of these switchbacks were so acute that he would have to slow to 15mph or less. There were no guardrails on these mountain roads. It just added to the thrill.

The construction quality of the roads and support structures have changed over the years to keep the massive earth at bay. Before the Event and the Renaissance, remote areas were plagued with poor-quality construction and engineering. Invariably someone was skimming money from a government contract. The work got done but was just not up to standard. During the Renaissance, construction in areas like this became more durable and elegant, recalling days of ancient Roman highways and viaducts. Engineers in ancient Roman times had to put their signatures within the structure to be held accountable for poor-quality work. For bridge work, they had to stand under it while a whole load passed overhead before it was used for public use; it was the ultimate test of accountability. The embankments he was riding through now were engineered and built to withstand the many earthquakes and rains that were known for causing massive mudslides. People, workmanship, and legacy became more important than self and profit.

Passing up through Paso Misterioso, Fabian saw elegant concrete and stone edifices holding the mountain back with Mayan bas-relief carvings. They were a homage to the people and heritage of this region of Guatemala. These were people who found new meaning and hope during the Renaissance. What Fabian saw was just breathtaking. He gladly slowed his pace to observe the craftsmanship, taking photos with his HUD helmet.

He contemplated the wonder of Volcan de Fuego and the work of the many artisans and craftsmen he now rode past. They were equally beautiful to him.

Now he had a choice between admiration and speed; they were both satisfying.

Fabian didn’t grow up riding bikes, so he liked some extra safety features that he could retrofit on this mid-twenty-first-century Triumph Thruxton RS. The gyroscopic stabilizer was the one upgrade he was thankful he installed and was using now. He could lean as far as he wanted without knee pads with no fear of dumping the bike. This didn’t preclude him from taking a corner too fast and taking a dump over the side of the mountain but combined with the internal AI and the HUD, he could take a corner at speed and lean to the limit with minimal fear. It was just maximal fun with the resulting eternal smile.

As he approached Los Tarrales Natural Reserve, he had to pull over and put on the light jacket he had packed. The climb in altitude came with a noticeable drop in temperature. He used velcro straps to tighten the jacket’s cuffs around his wrists and tucked them under the gloves. He then tucked the coat into his pants and tied a scarf around the jacket’s collar. He didn’t want the coat inflating with the cold wind when he got on the bike. Next, he was going to see if he would regret not bringing his full riding gear.

He got back on the bike and started the climb again.

As he approached the intersection of Highway 11 and Sol-4, he saw dark storm clouds and was soaked with cold rain within moments.

“Man, I wish I’d brought my full riding gear! Oh well, suck it, let’s go.”

He was hoping it would be a short-lived rain. It wasn’t. By the time he got to Godinez, he was shivering but knew it wouldn’t be long, and he felt like he could still make good decisions and had good tactile sensation.

Just outside San Andreas Semetabaj, he started to descend into Panajachel, and even though it was still raining, he could feel it was warming up a little.

He finally arrived in Panajachel, the sun was out, and the rain was gone, but he was soaked. He arrived at his hotel next to the lake and was embarrassed to walk in with all his gear and body dripping water.

“¿Decidió traer el lago con usted hoy, señor?” The attendant says.

“No, it found me and wanted to welcome me.” He said with a giggle and smile.

“No problem, sir, let’s get you checked in.”

In no time, Fabian made his way to the room, stripped down to take a hot shower, and put on dry clothes from his dry bag. The other clothes in the bags were damp, so he laid them out on the balcony. It wouldn’t take long for them to dry at this altitude and low humidity.

Fabian took a shower, dried off, and put on jeans, a t-shirt, and sandals.

“AI - call Jim Shields.”

“Hello.”

“Hey man, just got in but was soaking wet and cold from the ride. I had to get a shower and put dry clothes on. Did you make it in, OK?”

“Oh yeah, man! I’ve been here since late morning. I’ve had a wonderful day walking the town and eating some awesome food...”

Before he could go on, Fabian said, “Ok, ok. I get it; you aren’t soaking wet and cold, blah, blah. Where are you?”

“I think we are staying at the same hotel, right? I was walking down the side street and saw you pull up. I almost caught you in the lobby, but I saw you were soaking wet. I knew what you had in mind, so I let you go. I’m downstairs at the bar. Do you want to meet me here?”

“Sure, that sounds good. It’s been a great day, but long. Maybe I want to hang out there and have dinner here too.”

“Ok, sounds good. I’ll see you in a few.”

“Ok.”

Jim was at the bar when Fabian walked up.

“Hey, bro. Good to see you.” Fabian gives Jim a pat on the shoulder.”

Jim turns around and says, “Hey, you too.” He puts his hand on Fabian’s shoulder and pulls him in for a bro hug.

“You want to sit here or grab a table?”

“Hmmm. Here’s fine.”

“All right. Place your arse there.”

“I’ve been in the saddle all day, but it’ll be good to relax. But, you know what, on second thought, let’s grab a table. I want a chair with a back I can lean back on.”

“You got it.”

“Perdón. ¿Podemos elegir cualquier mesa para sentarnos?” Jim asks the bartender.

“Si, Si.” The bartender waves his hand over the tables next to the bar.

Jim and Fabian grab a table next to the floor-to-ceiling windows looking out over the lake.

“You remember I told you that the waste-to-energy concept for bitcoin mining started in this part of the world? It was right up the mountain; you passed the location of the first project on the way down here.”

“Very cool. You told me that back in El Salvador.”

“Yeah, just before the mid-twentieth century, companies realized that waste could be converted to energy. Before that innovation, companies were working on using flared methane to convert to energy and then using that energy to mine bitcoin. I mean, can you imagine living in those days? I’m sure it was like the California gold rush. But more high-tech. I’m sure the thinking going on back then was just amazing. So the methane flaring started with natural gas from oil and natural gas wells. Then it was applied to methane from decomposing waste at landfills. And finally, in places in what used to be called the global south, like here in El Salvador, they took trash before it was buried and created energy to mine Bitcoin. How mind-blowing is that? I’ve seen photos of how the earth was back then—plastic bags covering the Sahara desert. From a distance, it would look like snow. I mean, it just tears your heart to think how the earth was trashed like that. And millions and millions of plastic bottles filling lakes and streams and giant flotillas of trash in the oceans. The funny thing is that I was reading about the politics and money behind a lot of what was happening back then. It’s pretty shameful how fake science was used to push a certain narrative. I read at one point that certain groups were saying that the earth was going to freeze and that we should stop cutting down trees to make paper bags. One of the early groups was called Green piece or peace.. something Green. I guess the only green they were after was the old dollar. Anyway, there was a big push to start using plastic bags to carry your stuff. Then, about thirty years later, it was global warming, and then a big push came to a stop using plastic bags. Finally, it just became climate change so they could point to any change in the environment and use it to manipulate politics, money, and obviously, people.”

“The waste-to-energy innovation became a bridge to even cleaner and more sustainable energy. Small-scale nuclear reactors finally provided abundant, clean energy, and nuclear fusion was the next step in energy freedom. Fusion took many more decades to perfect, but we are seeing the benefit of that now, as you know. But there were decades of stagnating research and building because of fake science and political interests.”

“Yeah, I’ve read a little about that time of fake science. I guess it really boils down to whether you believe in an absolute truth or your own subjective truth.”

“You know it! I mean, I’m sure you remember how fake science literally shut the entire world down during that virus thing... COVID... I think it was. How fuckin’ gullible, stupid or scared do you have to be to let something like that happen?”

“Yeah... it’s really unbelievable,” Fabian pauses to think and then begins, “As I was on the moto on the way here, I saw wonderful architecture, sculptures, and bas-reliefs that have been here, I guess since the Renaissance? I know from history that infrastructure in this part of the world since the Spanish conquest was prone to corruption and created two worlds. I believe this was called the third world, and what used to be the United States and most of Europe was called the first world. I believe the old soviet countries were called the second world. I mean, for me, it just seems other worldly to have a distinction like that.”

“Yeah, for sure. I read a book a while ago that I can lend you. It’s a paper book, and I know you like digital books, but if you want, I can let you read it. It’s called “The History of the Renaissance of Man’s Reason: The Reset of Truth and Reason. It’s really kind of a fascinating look from THE Renaissance to the Renaissance of man’s reason. It also touches on pre-renaissance thinking, going back to Plato, Aristotle, and even early Judaeo-Christian thinking.”

“The basic premise is that even before Christ, Judaism had a basis for rational truth that came from God. Think about this: we are so used to the term consensus that we don’t think about what it means from a first principles perspective. You may recall the fake science of evolution that started in the mid-nineteenth century. That thinking would give way to something called the Big Bang theory. Like literally something came from nothing.”

Fabian interrupts before Jim can continue. “Yeah, I mean, thinking about first principles and the laws of thermodynamics, it just doesn’t make sense. I mean, it’s not even logical.”

“Well, you know, if you are a truth unto yourself, then anything can make sense. Your happiness or meaning becomes what’s all important. And if there is no absolute truth and no meaning, then a person, animal, and planet are equally valuable and on the same moral plane. Each has value, and one can be sacrificed for the sake of the other.”

“But as I was saying, the book’s premise is that God does exist. He exists as three distinct persons but is still one. Just as ancient Hebrew and Christian texts affirm. As do Islamic texts. But the really cool thing is in the book of Genesis, it says, ’Let ‘us’ make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.′ Now think about that... That is consensus! If you follow the logic of what evolutionary thought and the Big Bang purported, why would there be a need for consensus? I think the term was survival of the fittest. Beyond that, evolution was never an observational science. I mean, think about it, how can you go back hundreds of millions of years or billions of years and observe? You can’t. You have to make assumptions. I mean, it’s really preposterous. It became such a part of societal thinking that it was never tested. It came down between science and religion. Like binary code.”

“Sorry, I digress... There was this thing called Carbon-14 dating, but it even had problems because you had to make certain assumptions based on assumed facts. I mean, it was just circular logic. Anyway, man was given truth initially in the form of the ten commandments, and he eventually created his own form of religion called Judaism. Jesus comes along and says, “’wait, wait! You have taken what God has given you (actually me) and distorted it. I came to fulfill the law.” Which, you know, he did. And then after that, another religion was created and was primarily known as Catholicism.”

“Yeah, what do you think the odds are that a different group of people will do something different... They did the exact same thing that the Jews did before. Human nature doesn’t change.” Fabian piped in.

“BINGO, Catholicism corrupts the perfect law of Jesus just like the Jews corrupted the perfect law of God. No man is better than the other. But here’s where it gets fascinating, Martin Luther comes along on that special day you and I know so well and decides that after his reading of the truth in God’s word, the rules of religion set forth by the Catholic church weren’t right. Bamm! This starts the process where man’s reason is separated from ‘God,’ so to speak, since the Catholic church was identified as being equal with God at the time. The Catholic church said, ‘trust, don’t verify.’ You know what we think about that.”

“Yep.”

“Anyway, a new explosion of thinking begins, but now it’s not centered on God or absolute truth. Actually, it still was at the beginning, but once man started thinking independently of God and his truth, then man started to become a law or truth for himself. And this took centuries because ideas and information moved slowly back then. Imagine how quickly new ideas and thoughts spread now.”

“Leading up to the nineteenth and twentieth century, the actual age called The age of Reason started a whole new wave of thinking, and it became the first time that thinking was truly separated from any basis in a knowledge of God’s truth or absolute truth. Before that time, everyone would at least acknowledge there was a God or higher power, and He was the ultimate arbiter of truth, but at that time, man’s reason became supreme. This eventually led to that four-letter word: fiat!”

They both looked at each other and laughed.

“Even before Christ, the Greeks had a concept of absolute truth. I mean, this was what Plato and Aristotle tried to reconcile in their own ways. So we have nearly four thousand years of history based on the concept of absolute truth - no matter its source, it was known to exist until we broke free.”

“Jim, hold on, man, let me order another drink. You’ve been talking non-stop.”

“All right, man.”

Fabian waves his hand in the air to grab the bartender’s attention.

“Do you want something?” He asks Jim.

“Sure.”

“Dos mas cervezas, por favor.”

“Well, anyway.” Jim continued, “Man’s reason got him to the point of creating fake money. This fake money, as I’m sure you know, corrupted everything. And if you pull the thread and think about it from first principles, God first gave truth and it became centralized by a certain group of people. God then gave a second truth, in the form of Jesus, which became centralized by a certain group of people. Then people said, ‘To the hell with this, let’s make truth for ourselves.’ Well, guess what? That ‘truth’ became centralized. What’s funny if you think about it, but it’s really not funny; it took man two to four thousand years to fuck God’s truth up, but it only took man about five hundred years to fuck up his own truth up. That should tell you something.”

“So we went from God’s first Truth to man’s centralized efforts to control it. Next, we went to God’s second Truth to man’s centralized control of it. Then we went from God’s truth to man’s truth. And then man’s centralized control of it. Guess what? Same result. It’s not the input of truth that is the issue; it’s man’s manipulation and distortion of it.”

Fabian butted in, “Yeah, ok, this is making sense. It’s really not the input data that is the issue, but how man changes that input data.”

The bartender interrupts and places the beers on the table.

“Gracias.” Jim and Fabian say in unison.

“Exactly! So Satoshi comes along and gives us another truth. But this time, it can’t be modified by the whims of man. Because if you manipulate it, it doesn’t work. It’s an archetype of what God was doing but not based on morality or moral guilt, just pure computer code. We can always make moral issues gray. Code isn’t that way. It’s true or not true.”

“Wait a minute; I’m not making the connection,” Fabian says.

“Well, a lot of people didn’t when it was first introduced. Because the fake truth was still around. Those earlier people who found bitcoin found a certain true truth within Bitcoin. Something they knew to be true. If it wasn’t true, then the thing Bitcoin wouldn’t be true. But all the other fake stuff was still in society. The fake science, fake news, fake money, fake motives, fake everything. So true truth had to be the thing that pointed to everything else and said, ‘hey, have you really gone back and looked at everything that you thought was true and really tested it?’ And guess what? When you find an absolute truth, like the one Satoshi introduced, you go looking for other absolute truths. I mean, how can some random person just come up with an immutable truth? And he created this within an already-existent digital framework. Sound familiar? Like some guy creates an immutable truth within a system that has been created. I mean, think about that. It must point to another system that is just like it but has been corrupted. The digital framework Satoshi was working within had been created by someone else before. Many other people. But none of them had done what he had done; create an immutable truth in the digital space. Suppose immutable truth or a ‘supreme coder’ doesn’t exist in the physical world like many determinists and objectivists believed. How could an immutable truth be created in the digital world? You can’t roll the dice and find truth. Go try that with a revolver.”

“Yeah, no kiddin,′ You couldn’t.”

“Exactly! Determinism didn’t create the immutable truth found within Bitcoin; a man named Satoshi created it. So this became the catalyst of the Renaissance of man’s reason. He began to start thinking in absolute truths again. If you think in absolute truths, you must ask, ‘Where did this come from?’ The answer is obvious. Any absolute or immutable truth has to come from a person or being that creates it and puts it into a system. The system can be physical or digital, but it’s the same. So if there is one immutable truth, are there others? When you get to that question, you question the basis of truth for everything.”

“Yeah, I see what you are saying. If I recall from my history, the early twenty-first century was the pinnacle of ‘personal truth.’ That pronoun shit and all that crap. Selfies. I mean, the name says it all, self. Or I guess self-truth.”

“That’s right. If an individual is the arbiter of truth for his own life, then anything goes. His life doesn’t have inherent value. He can make it whatever he wants. Your truth or pronoun is your truth. Your happiness is your happiness.”

“But now think about this from purely a coding perspective. Can you imagine running a computer program and every coder just decides he’s going to input whatever he wants, whatever makes him happy? And somehow, we thought we could do the same in life. Imagine if there was no truth behind Bitcoin. Bitcoin would not make sense, and it would have no value. Bitcoin became that road sign that said, ‘Stop, what you are doing is wrong.’ For those that listened, it became a new way of life. We know that it was not so for SO-land.”

“Yeah, man, that’s so freakin’ sad, but, wow, what’s done is done. I think there were early attempts to make a better Bitcoin, and they all failed miserably, and I think people lost a lot of money and their lives. I mean, the term ‘don’t be S-B-Fin’ me’ came from that era.”

“Yep! I mean, you can’t make a better truth. It is either true or isn’t. It just demonstrates the stark difference between abiding by an immutable truth or succumbing to non-truth.”

“Yeah, man, it’s pretty deep shit.”

“Yeah, I know, but it’s pretty foundational and really gives me grounding.”

“Yeah, me too. It’s just been a while since I’ve had a discussion like this. So it’s good to be reminded. Believe me; immutable truth is self-evident. It’s in the Bitcoin blockchain. The immutable truth from God is self-evident as well, but I can’t go all the way down the moral pathway there.”

“Totally understood. The point is not to convince you to live a certain way but to know that immutable truth forms the basis of reality, whether it’s a physical, digital, or spiritual reality. There is a single true reality that we all share in common. It is that true reality that we all work towards improving. Not our own version.”

“One hundred percent, man. Totally agree with that. To think there is no immutable truth when we have something like Bitcoin, which is the basis for how we live now, is foolish.

“For sure, but I think what’s really cool is how this simple change in thinking and logic changed the world. And it all started with Bitcoin. Those carvings and bas-reliefs point to that. Believing in truth, a foundation gives us time to think about what is most important. Works of art make sense and aren’t confusing. Don’t get me wrong, I like some modern art from the mid-twentieth century and even some of the newer stuff, but putting literal shit on a canvas or peeing in a glass and calling it art is fucked up! Even art must have a basis in reality and truth. On the philosophical side, conflicts lessen, and we can achieve great things together because we believe in a common immutable truth. People are no longer being controlled by the manipulation of truth.”

“Wow, man. Really deep. I really appreciate the discussion. I guess I never fully understood some of these concepts. I mean, it’s been in front of me, but I never took a lot of time to think about it. I think it also makes sense why we now record historical events on the Bitcoin blockchain, or I guess it’s really a side chain, but it’s the same effect. As has been said about history, the victors write the story. Not now; it’s there for all to see.”

“Yeah, man. But I think what is cool is that people become valued for who they are as people. And that other people see that value. And together, we want a better society and a better world. We want to become better people because we have inherent value. No one can determine that value. It is something we have. If people have no value, then you can treat them like shit. If you can take away their value by inflating their money, it’s the same effect.”

“I heard it said that, in politics, the ones who are the best at manipulation make it to the top. Man, that is some bullshit. I’m thankful that we can use AI and not have to ever see a politician again.”

“Well, that’s definitely a completely separate discussion. But I think the advent of AI helped us and SO-Land make a break from politics and politicians. I just think we have the better result.”

“Very well said,” Fabian replied.

Fabian continued, “Ok, I’m two beers down and did not expect to be this exhausted, but my brain is fried with all this shit. I’m going to hit the hay.”

“Ok, man, sorry, didn’t mean to make it heavy.”

“No worries, it was good. It’s just been a long day for me. You’ve had a nice day of comfortable travel. Me, not so much.”

“Well, your the one who likes to ride the bike, cowboy.”

“Yeah. You’re the cowboy, remember?”

“Yeah, man.”

Fabian heads up to his hotel room and promptly falls asleep.