Reality Is Open Source: Don't Let Closed Source Thinkers Steal It From You

On May 1st I went with my family to a chilly and wind-whipped Teradomari Beach here in Niigata, Japan. My son was hell-bent on going into the sea. Having encouraged him relentlessly to do such things in the past, there was no way I could say "no," no matter how unpleasant things felt just prior to the leap in.

So, sand blowing right at us and me slightly shivering, we made our way to the shore, stripped down, and jumped in. Immediately I felt exhilarated and refreshed — and much warmer now standing in the icy waters of the Sea of Japan, my blood coursing through me, freshly reinvigorated.

Open Source, The Nature of Reality

I often keep blogs because I don't always have the easiest time explaining where I am coming from, or sharing stories I am excited about, or voicing concerns. A blog lends itself to a kind of universal ear. Anybody can read, love, hate, mock, disdain or be completely indifferent to what is written there, but still, I've expressed myself honestly and openly, without having to tiptoe around people's feelings or absurd social convention. And it makes things feel less lonely when sometimes folks you really care about can't listen... or aren't ready yet. I've been there, myself.

It's kind of like music. It is what it is, open to all. You can argue with or "debunk" a thesis, but not a song. Not somebody's feelings and observations from the heart. Sure they can be mistaken, but they cannot be "disproven" in the same way a scientific hypothesis can. We can feel something beyond just a "cold" rationale.

I've also been thinking lately about open-source technology, monetary systems, and software. As opposed to so-called "proprietary" models (actually communistic, which I will get to later). I've been thinking about how this idea of openly auditable code might apply to the "code" of life in general.

I'm finding something I've always known intuitively: anyone claiming a complete monopoly on reality itself, or "how things are" with absolute certainty (in other words insisting it is a proprietary code and they own and control it), is usually obviously wrong in some way or another.

I'm by no means a moral relativist, or against logical truths being stated plainly, but what I mean is, like the sea, reality is a lot bigger than any one of us can capture in its entirety in most cases. Is it cold? Hell yeah. Is it warm? Hell yeah. Is it dangerous? Hell yeah. Is it safe? Hell yeah. All of this can be true of the Sea of Japan — it just depends on context and perspective. Locations.

Closed source thinking, like the kind found in religions and governmental philosophies, cannot handle the vastly open nature of life without breaking down at some point. In a decentralized type of system, we're all nodes, validating or rejecting the assertions of the other individual nodes, and hopefully improving as we go.

Here in Niigata, our lovely "lawless" beaches are open to all comers. You can build a driftwood shelter, spear-fish, sunbathe, swim, drink beer, or all or none of the above. Luckily, folks in Japan tend to know how to live in harmony in this context, so there is no propped-up rationale for the brutal and juvenile statist laws found on beaches elsewhere.

My Bitcoin Cash-loving pals, and voluntaryist-anarchist pals, demonstrate the same understanding as the Japanese do about the sea but in the realm of finance: this digital money is better than the centralized state option because I can spend it as I wish with no middle man. Order is maintained because there are actual consequences for bad actors in a truly free market.

Fiat money, however, is like a beach where everyone is given children's floaties and told never to go out too deep or BBQ with fire, or they'll be severely beaten and punished or killed, while the so-called lifeguards (politicians, cops, etc.) do whatever they want. In the intentionally dysfunctional fiat monetary system, there is only one option, and bad actors not only are not punished effectively, but the very worst of them are the ones making the rules. Same goes with preachers in churches, almost always: they pretend to follow senseless, toxic rules they cannot keep, from a book full of contradictory statements, and refuse to allow others their own perspective on life if it disagrees with their programming. But, to their slight credit, at least they aren't directly violating folks as cops are. They're just mentally abusing them.

Open-Source Order

Here is the rub that truly drives the closed-source mind crazy (this goes for the parts of me as well that are still held hostage): property, privacy, order, and objectivity are most readily found in environments of true freedom, with open, and auditable systems. Just try to take a fisherman's fresh catch or a bitcoiner's private keys. Sensible rules are understood by all functioning (non-sociopathic/psychopathic) "nodes" that render order. Society and religion calls it the golden rule, but of course never lives by it. We actually have the balls to run with it.

No, conversely, the "closed-source" thinking that pushes ideas like state communism, religious dogma, and arbitrary confiscation of money from any and all individuals other than the magically worshipped "central node of truth" — man's conceptions of god, government, and the so-called greater good — does nothing but destroy inquiry, verification, and permissionless connection in non-violence. Their systems are predicated on violence itself.

I'm not sure this whole ramble was worth it. All I mean is that you've got to see things for yourself. Otherwise you're just a slave, running programs put there by folks that are not worthy of your trust in this vast, open, wonderful world that doesn't mind one way or the other if you try to verify things in its "code." And if there is a god or creator or intelligence behind this all — any such entity worth their salt would encourage inquiry as well.

Reality itself doesn't reject those who wish to verify. Religion and the state tell us to seek truth, verify, and innovate. They'll slam the door in your face once you actually do. Fuck 'em. Let's jump into the sea and be invigorated with the wonder of it all. And enjoy being alive!

(It feels great. And it's best done with people you really love. I love you, Z!)