Nozomi Hayase: Liberation Psychology, The Dangers of CBDC’s & How Bitcoin Protects Our Humanity.
“Bitcoin is liberation psychology.”
Photo credit: Etienne Girardet
I first heard of Nozomi Hayase from my interview with Stacy Herbert – when Stacy revealed Nozomi was her favourite bitcoiner to listen to. From that moment on, Nozomi’s name was imprinted in my mind.
*Listen: “Stacy Herbert: The Salvadoran Diaspora, Media Misrepresentation & Bitcoin As Hope”
Fast forward a couple of months…
I was sitting with my friends at a steak dinner (hosted by the Adopting Bitcoin Conference in El Salvador) when a lady and her friend came over to ask if they could sit next to us.
“Yes, of course!”
After talking with her for a while, and being fascinated by her enlightened mind, we decided to follow each other on Twitter… And that’s when it all clicked.
“OMG! I’ve heard of you! Stacy Herbert said you were her favourite bitcoiner ever,” I said with such enthusiasm it was hard to contain.
The cool part? Nozomi had listened to the podcast interview with Stacy too!
That night I also got to meet her wonderful friend, Painting Bitcoin; a real-life painter and bitcoiner – and if I may add – quite the poetic thinker. The three of us spent the rest of the evening (and next day) talking about art, spirituality, fate versus destiny versus free will, Bitcoin, El Salvador, and a bunch of other captivating topics.
So, that’s how I got to meet the wonderfully brilliant Nozomi Hayase. Through a “happy accident” as we called it.
But who is Nozomi and why is she remarkable?
Nozomi Hayase PhD is a philosopher, a journalist, a prolific writer in the Bitcoin space (and writer at Bitcoin Magazine), a Liberation psychologist, and a pretty badass woman worth knowing.
She’s a renaissance woman in her own right.
Having started her Bitcoin journey back in 2010 (though technically more so in 2013), she’s delved deep into the Bitcoin rabbit hole and contributed Bitcoin thought leadership pieces that go unmatched in the space because of the depth of her thinking.
She’s also examined issues surrounding the persecution of WikiLeaks Founder, Julian Assange, political prisoners such as Mumia Abu Jamal, and whistleblowers like Chelsea Manning and Edward Snowden.
And, given her background in psychology, she’s explored how we can understand and liberate ourselves from the economic pressures that burden our mind and spirit.
That’s just a few of the reasons I wanted to speak with Nozomi for an episode of The Misfit podcast. During our conversation, we talked about:
What Liberation psychology is and how learning about Bitcoin helps liberate our minds, hearts and spirits.
How central bank digital currencies (CBDC’s) are deprogramming humanity, whereas Bitcoin is helping to protect our humanity and free will.
What it means to be “a free human being.”
Nozomi’s wisdom knows no bounds.
She’s somehow managed to integrate her mind and heart in a way that I cannot say I have seen another person manage to do. Her wisdom merges logic, instinct, and experience with full heart. I can only attribute this profoundness in thought to years of dedicated studying, questioning and thinking.
That’s why she’s rare and why she’s worth listening to in a world full of twisted lies, easy clickbait, manipulated analysis, and shallow thinking.
I sincerely hope you take a moment to listen to her speak. More importantly, I hope this episode opens your mind and heart in addition to bringing you internal peace and hope (as she did with me).
*Listen to the episode on Spotify or Fountain.
Nozomi Quotes to Remember:
On our current monetary system hurting our quality of life: “My opinion is that money is a huge issue. The economic incentives go against the basic principles of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness… the issues are systemic.”
On Bitcoin reconciling the contradictions of human nature: “We engage in war. We engage in destruction. But at the same time, nature shows us we are kind. We are altruistic. We are capable of altruism. We are collaborating as well as competing with each other. So, we have this paradox within ourselves. Interestingly, I found the incentives in the Bitcoin protocol are based on the understanding of this paradox within ourselves. So, I think that Satoshi’s great contribution is to reconcile the contradictions within human nature and put forward a more complete, honest view of ourselves… And by that honest account of our nature, Satoshi has allowed us to be who we are.”
On Bitcoin being free speech: “Bitcoin is freedom - its core feature is censorship-resistant. And it enables free speech. And that’s why it became so popular among people who are oppressed.”
On the dangers of government-controlled digital currencies (central bank digital currencies or CBDCs): “CBDCs deprogram humanity and changes our human nature. It goes much deeper than creating a new totalitarianism. I think it actually, fundamentally, deprograms humanity… [With CBDCs, we] lose capacity to think freely and we become robots without us knowing even.”
On Bitcoin saving us: “People come in and say ‘I’m the saviour of the world. I’m going to save you so you have to trust us.’... In the Bitcoin system, it’s decentralized. Each person will save him or herself and the network becomes strong.”
As always, please let me know what you think and share it with your loved ones if you enjoyed it!
Connect with Nozomi Hayase and follow her work here:
On Twitter at @Nozomimagine
On Substack “The Way of the Heart”
On her website
On her work at Bitcoin Magazine
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