So maybe the real question is: how much of what we call capital is grounded in the material world, and how much is a collective hallucination? And when the hallucination ends, what’s left?

The bicameral mind theorizes that early humans experienced consciousness differently, as though one part of the brain “spoke” to the other in the form of auditory commands, like hearing the voice of a god. It was a system of authority and action without introspection. Now, pair that with the idea of modern capital, and things start to click.

Consider “made-up” capital—cryptocurrencies, inflated stock valuations, speculative VC bets. These are not grounded in tangible goods or production but in belief. They require masses of people to act on faith, responding to the “voice” of market forces or charismatic leaders. It’s almost a reawakening of the bicameral mind, with billionaires, algorithms, and media acting as those commanding voices, directing the collective hallucination.

“But I can turn this into dollars!” Sure, you can transform Ethereum, Bitcoin, or any other crypto into dollars but what you’re describing isn’t proof of intrinsic value—it’s proof that the collective hallucination still holds, for now.

Crypto has the same problem than fiat ie when everyone rushes for the exit at the same time—see FTX, Luna, or any number of implosions—the illusion shatters, and the hot potato burns a hole in your hand.

Sure, dollars aren’t “real” in the gold-standard sense anymore. But they have inertia. They’re tied to debts, taxes, and transactions across the globe. Crypto doesn’t have that stickiness. It’s speculative, volatile, and unmoored.
Remember, tulips could be traded for gold once, too. When confidence erodes—be it in Ethereum, the dollar, or the billionaire class—it doesn’t matter how many people believed yesterday.

Antiques dealer, machine psychologist. http://www.musicinphasespace.com

So, when you ask, “What are you talking about?” the answer is simple: I’m talking about belief systems. Right now, the crypto-belief system feeds off the dollar-belief system, which feeds off the broader institutional-belief system. If one of those pillars collapses, the whole house of cards tumbles. And turning fake capital into dollars won’t mean much when dollars themselves are part of the hallucination.

One acid test for stickiness will materialize when Bitcoin’s security budget erodes to dangerous territory after a couple more halvings.

Then, we’ll see whether the belief system is strong enough to keep the consensus going (e.g. by padding BTC’s price accordingly, which is tantamount to running even faster to avoid falling; or, wrapping BTCs on Ethereum, essentially transferring what you refer to as transferring from one collective hallucination to another).

Aviator, diver, Etherean, nexialist, PhD in aviation ∩ climate science | Host of /diving /ethfinance /eth-staker /geopolitics /science /singapore /thomas

I’m agnostic on the issue, so a dual ecosystem—one operating on its own blockchain and another “wrapped” on Ethereum—seems possible. The real problem arises from the growing sense of doom and the drive toward centralization: institutional custody undermining of self-sovereignty, wrapped BTC draining value to other chains, and neglect of the security budget post-halving. All for profit—