I thought it would be interesting to put this out on Steem and hopefully illicit some discussion among what I considder to be futuristic thinkers (Steem users). It is the preamble to the whitepaper of a concept I have been working on for a few years now. Feel free to let rip.
"On the surface, Satoshi's gift to humanity seems to be the freedom to interact economically without the need for using currency which is controlled by governments, corporate central banks or anyone else for that matter. There is however an easter egg hidden in the wrapping of this gift. One that is only revealed once we expand our thinking and start examining the concept of value outside of a currency context.
Currency was introduced to solve a problem, the problem of the double coincidence of wants which simply means for 2 people to barter, or exchange value, both had to have something which the other desired and both had to be in the same place at the same time. By agreeing to imbue a proxy in the form of currency with value, this dilemma was solved as we were now able to exchange our value without the need for the valuable object to even be present.
However, a subtle but hugely significant shift took place at this moment. Our perception of value was altered. Humanity set of on a path of accumulation of currency at all costs. Nature was seen as a collection of commodities which could be turned into profit and the only justification required for the large scale extraction and exploitation which ensued was that it was "good business".
The advent of Blockchain and crypto currency provides a unique opportunity. An opportunity for humanity as a whole to examine, and shift if we so desire, what we attribute value to. The value of cryptocurrency is generally measured in terms of centralised and controlled fiat currency which value in turn is nowadays (theoretically at least) derived from the economy to which it is linked. Such an economy will invariably be extractive in nature and it can therefore be said that, currently, even in a crypto economy, value is derived from extraction.
A sane perspective on value shows that extraction is a shortsighted and destructive practice which culminates in system collapse and the destruction of all value. It would make infinitely more sense to assign value to systems that generate true value and what can be more truly valuable than that which we need to stay alive? Our primary survival and by extension, all subsequent levels of value depends on an abundant supply of food, water, shelter and fresh air. Some would jokingly add internet access to this bottom rung of Maslow's hierarchy of needs but in the rapidly changing technological world we inhabit, web access is no longer a jesting matter and HIPS aims to implement a future proof, decentralised internet backbone along with the production swarms.
Cryptocurrency affords us the opportunity to return our perception of value to a sane one based on the health of those system which we absolutory depend on for our own health and indeed our very existence. This paper describes a cryptocurrency which derives it's value from generative systems rather than extraction because, no matter how much coin you are hodling, you owe your existence to 12 inches of topsoil and the fact that it rains."