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Embracing Constraints - A Weekend Discussion
1162 sats \ 16 comments \ @sn 6 May 2023 bitcoin
From day one, a number of important constraints were built into Bitcoin. Things like:
  • Absolute scarcity of 21 million coins
  • Limited block space
  • 10 minute blocks
Interestingly, there is no law of physics that requires these constraints. Satoshi could have chosen to modify the scarcity, block sizes, or settlement times, but instead chose to lean into them as self-imposed constraints.
Throughout history, this seems to be a common theme for many important innovations:
  • The iPhone was built around the constraint of a single button beneath the display
  • Twitter was built around the constraint of 140 characters
  • IKEA was built around the constraint of requiring customers to build their furniture
A few questions to consider:
  • What are some other examples of self-imposed constraints leading to step-change innovations in the world?
  • What is it about constraining oneself in the short-term that leads to so many world-changing innovations?
  • What other constraints should Bitcoiners be embracing?
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863 sats \ 0 replies \ @quark 6 May 2023
Good topic. We should recognize when the constraint is a design that has to be forever, or if it is a constraint by the technology at the moment. If technology evolves, can the constraint be changed?
An example is the famous quote: "640K of RAM ought to be enough for anyone," we had to write software with that memory limit in mind. Or how computers had the 8 bit constraint, but then it was changed to 16 bit, then 32 bit and 64 bit. Forcing to update all software each time.
I would say, it is difficult to design constraints that last forever to technology.
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1731 sats \ 0 replies \ @mo 6 May 2023
What is it about constraining oneself in the short-term that leads to so many world-changing innovations?
We are humans... we adapt. So the constraint that limit us most, will allow humanity to evolve and innovate. Just as the current financial system (unconsciously) did for centuries, we are good at blaming people that has been placed there to take responsibilities they will never take. The truth/hypothesis is that everything is part of the process of evolution. Simply like that
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883 sats \ 1 reply \ @scottathan 6 May 2023
Super Mario Bros is a great example. It was built around the singular idea of jumping. This might not immediately seem like a constraint, but it constrained other ideas by ensuring they all centered around jumping. Goumbas die from jumping, you throw fire at an angle that incentivices jumping, etc.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr 7 May 2023
that’s a really good one, never realized it despite years of playing those games
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605 sats \ 0 replies \ @Undisciplined 6 May 2023
Profit and loss accounting vs central planning
I think there's a lot of selection bias implicit in this premise. Most of the time constraints simply reduce the value of outcomes and we don't take notice because that's the normal state of the world.
One answer to your second question is that it's not obvious how to best handle complexity, but somehow we have to. Good system design seems to be largely about figuring out how much complexity users are ok with handling and not making them take on more than that, but balancing that with how much they're willing pay to have the complexity reduced.
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509 sats \ 0 replies \ @siggy47 6 May 2023
An obvious example-a Twitter tweet. The original character limitation really changed communication, although I'm not sure whether it was an advancement or not. It helped to spawn the low attention span world we live in, and probably inspired the 30 second video limit on snapchat.
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380 sats \ 0 replies \ @At 7 May 2023
I think constraints limit the set of possibilities to wander in, if they're good, that will result in more efficent use of effort towards something productive.
As for examples:
  • Legos, built around the idea that all the bricks fit together through one type of connector.
  • The world wide web being built around a simple markup language, allowing it to evolve slowly as its usage increased and speeds grew.
  • This is kind of weird, but, languages with a certain set of symbols representing simple sounds.
  • The base 10 number system with a seemingly random base, we've got ten fingers, that'll help, let's roll with it.
I might have stretched the meaning of what a constraint is, which is quite ironic.
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430 sats \ 0 replies \ @om 7 May 2023
What are some other examples of self-imposed constraints leading to step-change innovations in the world?
Stallman constrained himself to only use free software. 40 years later, we're still struggling (esp. around drivers) but free software changed the world.
What is it about constraining oneself in the short-term that leads to so many world-changing innovations?
In short you get credibility that is difficult to obtain otherwise. In the Stallman example, look at how he couldn't be cancelled from his FSF seat because he makes the seat important, not the other way around. That's what credibility can do.
What other constraints should Bitcoiners be embracing?
Hmm... how about not whining about L1 being clogged? We want hyperbitcoinization, right? Sky high L1 fees are inevitable in case of hyperbitcoinization, so use those L2s already.
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373 sats \ 0 replies \ @0fje0 7 May 2023
It seems to me that the discussion here sort of veered into a discussion of standardization, more than constraints perhaps?
Maybe the two go hand in hand: sometimes constraints lead to standardization and sometimes it's the other way around.
@At mentioned languages, for example. I think this is a case of standardization leading to constraints.
An example of the opposite is shipping containers. While the idea (constraint?) is centuries old, it revolutionized commerce when it got standardized and eventually became an ISO standard, which only happened after WW2.
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108 sats \ 1 reply \ @gmd 6 May 2023
I find it a little sad that I was sitting here trying to come up with some decent answers (unsuccessfully) but then I and threw this prompt into ChatGPT and it immediately spat out some decent responses…
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33 sats \ 0 replies \ @juanito 7 May 2023
think harder™️
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54 sats \ 0 replies \ @033daf6a55 7 May 2023
21 000 000 1024 kilobytes 600 seconds all of these are not limits. all are a constant constant .
Like the speed of light. Absolute zero. 1+1=2
all of these laws have yet to be overcome or hacked or stolen technology from within these metrics. Bitcoin can compress information more than any language in the world. Bitcoin will give you such red lines that technology will surpass quantum leap in no time)
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13 sats \ 0 replies \ @kr 6 May 2023
LEGO used their “stub-and-tube coupling system” as a constraint that made their manufacturing process much easier, and enabled interoperability between LEGO sets, giving kids near-limitless ability to create new toys.
https://www.thnk.org/insights/it-s-all-about-the-brick-lego-modular-system/
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Gar 8 May 2023
A form so strict, yet Embracing its boundaries yields Artistic freedom
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0 sats \ 1 reply \ @kr 6 May 2023
self-custody is another constraint that Bitcoiners should continue to embrace.
sure, not everyone custodies their own funds all the time, but all apps and services in Bitcoin are designed with the assumption that a user will want to custody their own funds at some point.
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0 sats \ 0 replies \ @mo 6 May 2023
that's not a constraint, but agree it should
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