On 30/04/14 00:13, Mike Hearn wrote: > I do think we need to move beyond this idea of Bitcoin being some kind > of elegant embodiment of natural mathematical law. It just ain't so.
I haven't seen anybody arguing that it is. Bitcoin is the elegant embodiment of /artificially contrived/ mathematical rules, which just so happen to be very useful in their current configuration :-P Nobody is saying those rules are immutable. Just that it isn't sensible to undermine them by introducing imprecise and unpredictable elements like human politics. > Every time miners and nodes ignore a block that creates >formula() coins > that's a majority vote on a controversial political matter No it isn't. That's the node enforcing the protocol. It isn't a matter of opinion, and it isn't a vote. The protocol is clearly defined: you either follow it or you're not running a Bitcoin node. If 51% don't follow it tomorrow /they're/ not running Bitcoin. Contrast with your "vote to reinterpret the meaning of arbitrary blocks" mechaism - you're free to vote either way while remaining within the protocol. That's a /real/ vote - majority decides what the Bitcoin protocol /and every node that follows it/ will recognise as valid. Nothing like that currently exists. Thank $deity.
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