One hundred seventy years ago, tuberculosis was a lethal disease. This illness posed a significant threat to humanity, resulting in an estimated 1 billion deaths between 1700 and 1900. Notably, traces of tuberculosis have been found in the mummies of ancient Egyptian kings. In the late 1840s, German botanist Hermann Brehmer, confronted with the fatality of tuberculosis, relocated to the Himalayas in search of fresh air. Remarkably, he survived and is believed to have successfully fought off Mycobacterium tuberculosis in that less favorable environment for bacterial growth. As a result, numerous nursing homes emerged across Europe and the United States, including specialized facilities for tuberculosis care and luxury accommodations for the affluent. However, by the 1940s, many of these nursing homes began closing due to the emergence of antibiotics, which drastically changed their economic viability. Throughout history, it seems that economic value often proves transient. - Joseph’s “j...
Online sales have surpassed offline sales as a result of the global pandemic. Nowadays, people are purchasing signals instead of tangible items. The online environment is a web of signals. If the signal presented by the interface is not trustworthy, purchasing is not possible. For a long time, stocks have been traded based on signals that represent rights without requiring physical stock certificates. The same principle applies to gold. The challenge arises because both the tangible item and the signal react based on their value, but human greed leads to an oversupply of signals. This happens because creating a signal is much simpler than producing the actual item. The fundamental issue is that the signal serves as a representation of the tangible item. When there are more signals than tangible items, this discrepancy is termed a “bubble.” In offline contexts, signals are known as “cash.” Essentially, money is just a signal, and “trust” is crucial for believing in that signal. - Joseph...