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@ jimbocoin 🃏
2025-02-05 15:11:31
Yeah, still pondering. I mean, it’s a metaphor, which is doomed. Every metaphor is “not the same thing” by definition. If it was the same thing, it wouldn’t be a metaphor.
However, sometimes pondering metaphors leads to insight. That’s what I’m exploring here.
I think there’s something to be said for complexity, intelligence and will. Like, we might say that matter “wants” to get together (gravity). Genes “want” to propagate. Chemicals “want” to react, etc.
And so we intelligent beings of higher complexity want things of a higher order. When we interact with simpler systems, simpler (brute) means apply. If you want to move dirt, you scoop it. But if you want to move public sentiment, sophisticated persuasive tools are more effective than brute force.
To escape a gravity well, you have to expel propellant. Direct application of force in the face of brute physics. To unlock a cryptographic system, you *can* use brute force, but you can also apply knowledge—the private keys.
I don’t know where I’m going with this. Just thinking aloud.
I think it’s more than just “knowledge is power”. Like, knowledge is a superior substitute for force. “Pen is mightier than the sword” kind of thing.