Chapter 4: Power Projection Tactics in Human Society

Overview

Humans possess a unique cognitive ability: abstract thinking. This chapter explores how abstract thought transformed power projection from purely physical displays (like animal antlers) into complex systems of laws, money, and military force. Understanding this evolution is crucial for grasping Bitcoin's strategic significance.

4.1 Introduction

Key Question: What happens when organisms capable of symbolic thinking apply power projection tactics?

Answer: They create abstract power hierarchies—systems where imagined constructs (money, laws, social status) control resource access alongside physical force.

This creates both opportunities (peaceful cooperation at scale) and dangers (exploitation through belief manipulation).

4.2 A Whole New World

The Cognitive Revolution (approx. 70,000 years ago):

Humans developed the ability to think about things that don't physically exist:

• Gods and religions
• Nations and borders
• Money and property rights
• Laws and moral codes

This ability enabled:

• Large-scale cooperation among strangers (impossible for other animals)
• Complex societies with specialized roles
• Technological accumulation across generations

But it also created vulnerability: whoever controls the belief system controls resource access.

4.3 How to Detect if Something is Real

The Realness-Verification Problem:

When you can imagine things that don't exist, how do you distinguish real from imaginary?

Brain's Default Algorithm:

1. Do other trusted humans act like this is real? → Probably real
2. Can I touch/interact with it physically? → Real
3. Does it hurt me if I ignore it? → Real

This algorithm works well for physical threats (lions, cliffs) but creates exploitable vulnerabilities for abstract constructs.

Example: Money has no intrinsic value. Its "realness" depends entirely on collective belief. Governments exploit this by inflating currency supply—violating the social contract but retaining power through abstract authority.

4.4 Evolution of Abstract Thinking

Pre-Human Ancestors:

• Controlled resources through physical strength
• Pecking order determined by fight outcomes
• Limited cooperation beyond immediate kin

Early Humans (50,000 BCE - 10,000 BCE):

• Developed language for coordinating hunts
• Created myths to bind tribes
• Still primarily physical power-based

Agricultural Revolution (10,000 BCE - 1800 CE):

• Permanent settlements enabled property claims
• Abstract systems (kings, gods) legitimized resource control
• Physical power (armies) enforced abstract hierarchies

Industrial Age (1800 CE - 1990 CE):

• Mass production increased resource abundance
• Nation-states monopolized physical power (militaries, police)
• Abstract systems (fiat money, laws) governed most resource access

Digital Age (1990 CE - Present):

• Most valuable resources became informational (data, intellectual property)
• Software administrators gained abstract power over digital resources
• Physical power projection became less relevant to daily resource control

4.5 Understanding Abstract Power

Abstract Power: The ability to control resources through belief manipulation rather than physical force.

Key Mechanism: Convince people that:

1. Your authority is legitimate (divine right, democratic mandate, expertise)
2. Obeying is in their best interest
3. Resisting will bring consequences (social ostracism, legal punishment, divine retribution)

Examples:

| Type of Abstract Power | Enforcement Mechanism | Vulnerability | |------------------------|----------------------|---------------| | Religious Authority | Divine punishment, social ostracism | Requires sustained belief | | Legal Authority | Courts, police (physical backup) | Requires perceived legitimacy | | Monetary Authority | Government control of currency | Requires trust in issuer | | Technical Authority | Software permissions | Requires inability to verify/audit |

4.6 Creating Abstract Power

Step-by-Step Guide (How to Become a God-King):

1. Identify a Physical Need: Food scarcity, defense threats, uncertainty about future
2. Offer an Abstract Solution: "I speak to the gods," "I have secret knowledge," "I protect you with my laws"
3. Demonstrate Apparent Results: Coincidental rain after prayer, victories in battle, temporary prosperity
4. Institutionalize Belief: Build temples, write scriptures, create rituals
5. Punish Disbelievers: Social exclusion, legal consequences, physical violence (as last resort)
6. Extract Resources: Tithes, taxes, tribute—all justified by your abstract authority

Modern Version: Replace "gods" with "expertise" or "democracy" or "national security." The mechanism is identical.

4.7 Abstract Power Hierarchies

Modern societies use hybrid power systems:

Physical Power Base:

• Military defends borders
• Police enforce domestic order
• Both make C_A of challenging authority very high

Abstract Power Superstructure:

• Laws define ownership/rights
• Money facilitates resource exchange
• Credentials/expertise gatekeep decision-making

The Problem: When abstract power drifts too far from physical reality, systems become fragile.

Historical Pattern:

1. Society creates abstract power system (religion, monarchy, fiat currency)
2. Controllers exploit system for personal gain
3. Exploitation erodes legitimacy
4. Crisis reveals the abstract system's emptiness
5. Physical power reasserts dominance (revolution, war, currency collapse)
6. New abstract system emerges, cycle repeats

4.8 Dysfunctions of Abstract Power

Three Major Failure Modes:

1. The Free Rider Problem

• Individuals benefit from abstract systems (laws, currency) without contributing
• System degradation over time as more free-ride
• Requires physical enforcement to maintain

2. The Principal-Agent Problem

• Citizens (principals) delegate power to leaders (agents)
• Agents pursue self-interest rather than citizen welfare
• Difficult to remove bad agents without revolution

3. The Knowledge Problem

• Centralized planners cannot possess all information needed for optimal decisions
• Abstract authority pretends to know more than is knowable
• Results in inefficiency and misallocation

Bitcoin's Relevance: By removing centralized control and relying on physical proof-of-work, Bitcoin attempts to avoid all three failure modes.

4.9 Emergent Benefits of Warfighting

Controversial Claim: Lowery argues that war, despite its horrors, has produced strategic benefits for human civilization.

Benefits:

1. Innovation: Military needs drive technological advancement (internet, GPS, nuclear power)
2. Social Cohesion: External threats create internal solidarity
3. Resource Efficiency: Competition for survival eliminates inefficient governance
4. Reality-Testing: War ruthlessly exposes which societies have sustainable systems vs. those built on illusion

Clarification: Lowery is NOT advocating for war. He's observing that competition (including military competition) has historically driven progress. The question becomes: Can we achieve similar benefits without kinetic warfare?

Answer: Maybe. If we can project power in ways that are costly (like war) but non-lethal (unlike war), we preserve the benefits while reducing harm. This is where Bitcoin enters the picture.

4.10 National Strategic Security

National Security Dilemma:

Every nation faces the Survivor's Dilemma at scale:

• Trust neighbors → risk exploitation/invasion
• Arm defensively → neighbors perceive threat, arm themselves
• Arms race → increased tension, accidental war risk
• Disarm → risk conquest

Traditional Solution: Mutually Assured Destruction (MAD)

• Build nuclear arsenals
• Make C_A of attack equal to annihilation
• Deter war through credible threat of total destruction

Problem with MAD: One mistake = human extinction

Better Solution?: A power projection technology that:

• Imposes severe physical costs (like nuclear weapons)
• Is non-lethal (unlike nuclear weapons)
• Cannot be monopolized by states
• Automatically punishes aggressors

This is what Lowery believes Bitcoin provides.

4.11 Mutually Assured Destruction

MAD Explained:

During the Cold War, US and USSR each developed enough nuclear weapons to destroy the other completely. This created a paradox:

• Attacking first = you die too (retaliation)
• Defending perfectly = impossible (undetectable submarines, ICBMs)
• Only winning move = not to play

Result: 70+ years without major great-power war (unprecedented in history).

Lesson: Physical power that makes C_A astronomically high works better than abstract treaties or moral appeals.

Bitcoin Connection: Mining creates a digital equivalent—attack the Bitcoin network and you must outspend the entire global mining industry. BCR_A < 0 for all realistic attackers.

4.12 Humans Need Antlers

Thesis: Just as male elk need antlers to avoid fighting, humans need costly power projection technologies to avoid war.

Nuclear weapons are humanity's antlers:

• Expensive to build/maintain
• Easy to verify (satellite imagery, seismic tests)
• Prove nation-state capability
• Deter attacks without fighting

Problem: Can't use nukes for defending non-state resources (e.g., digital property).

Bitcoin as Digital Antlers:

• Expensive to attack (requires outspending global mining)
• Easy to verify (public hash rate)
• Proves computational capability
• Deters attacks on digital property without violence

Policy Implications

1. Don't Conflate Physical and Abstract Power: Regulations, laws, and permissions cannot substitute for physical security in cyberspace.

2. Invest in Costly Signaling: Technologies that require physical investment (like Bitcoin) are more secure than those based purely on abstract authority.

3. Understand the MAD Parallel: Bitcoin may be to digital resources what nuclear weapons are to national territories—a costly deterrent that prevents conflict.

4. Avoid Domestication: Over-reliance on centralized abstract authorities (governments, tech companies) creates vulnerability. Decentralized systems preserve independence.

Reflection Prompts

1. What modern abstract power systems do you participate in? Which ones rest on physical foundations vs. pure belief?

2. If war has driven innovation historically, can Bitcoin provide the competitive pressure without the killing?

3. How would society change if property rights were based on proof-of-work rather than government enforcement?

Compare to Softwar

This chapter bridges natural power projection (Chapter 3) and cyber power projection (Chapter 5). It shows that humans have always used both physical and abstract power, but abstract power only works when backed by physical reality. Bitcoin reconnects digital resource control to physical constraints (electricity consumption).

Further Study

• Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens - Evolution of abstract thinking
• Carl von Clausewitz, On War - Philosophy of warfare
• Niall Ferguson, The Ascent of Money - History of abstract financial power

Next Chapter: Chapter 5 reveals how Bitcoin enables physical power projection in cyberspace—the core of the Softwar thesis.