Did Satoshi Nakamoto decide to continue to play dead? Understanding Satoshi Nakamoto through Colonel Chabe of Bazarc

This article is translated from the blog of my friend Jacques Favier. I am very grateful to him.

Original link: http://blog.lavoiedubitcoin.info/post/mort

Satoshi Nakamoto in the Age of Napoleon Part 1

The mysterious identity of Satoshi Nakamoto may never be known. The purpose of this article is not to continue to speculate on the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto. Some Bitcoin enthusiasts like to discuss who he or they are, like to speculate on his views on various issues, and also discuss whether the Bitcoin address he controls will be activated one day. For Bitcoin, this mysterious story is not just an insignificant detail. Once Satoshi Nakamoto's identity is exposed, it will fundamentally affect the concept of Bitcoin. German philosopher Hegel said: "Reality is not like a coin, which can be taken back and forth without change." Reality is a life experience, which also requires experiencing pain and death.

I do not completely agree with Peter Todd's view that "questioning the identity of Satoshi Nakamoto is nothing more than a historical curiosity."

In recent years, there have been many people who claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto. This is enough for historians to compare with historical examples, psychologists will definitely be very interested in it, and novelists can also use it to inspire their creations.

Portrait of Louis XVII

There are countless historical examples of princes in different dynasties in various countries whose identities are difficult to identify. The most famous case in French history is the prince of the Kingdom of France during the French Revolution. When the French Revolution broke out, Louis XVI's son was only a few years old. He and his mother, Queen Marie, were imprisoned by revolutionaries. The revolutionary government announced the prince's death in 1795, and his body was secretly buried in a mass grave. People doubted the official statement. Rumors said that the prince was not dead, but was rescued by the royalists, and the child who died in prison was actually a substitute for an orphan. In the following decades, ten Louis XVII imposters appeared. This case was controversial until the end of the 20th century.

Why are there so many people pretending to be Louis XVII? In fact, after the French Revolution, not all French people supported the revolution. The political situation was complicated and chaotic. After the death of Louis XVI, the revolutionaries failed to establish a stable regime in the new era. In addition to the nobles, many civilians were still loyal to the king and hoped to have an orthodox successor to restore the Kingdom of France. This seems to be somewhat similar to the decentralized power system of Bitcoin. In this new revolution, we cannot find the orthodox leader Satoshi Nakamoto.

Discussing Satoshi Nakamoto with my friends made me realize a problem. Our thinking mode today is still trying to find the same Satoshi Nakamoto as in 2008, the Satoshi Nakamoto who has been there for eight years. We can only verify and judge each Satoshi Nakamoto who "appears" through the various traces left by Satoshi Nakamoto before. However, time passes like water, people change, and so does Satoshi Nakamoto.

Colonel Chabert in Balzac's novels

There is a very similar story in Balzac's series of literary works "The Human Comedy", called "Colonel Chabet". Chabet was an orphan who joined Napoleon's army during the Great Revolution. After various wars, he was gradually promoted to colonel. After Napoleon became emperor, Chabet became a national hero. However, he unfortunately disappeared in the Battle of Eylau on February 8, 1807, and became a hero who died in battle. Ten years later, Chabet suddenly appeared in Paris. When Chabet returned, the Napoleonic Empire had been defeated and the Bourbon dynasty was restored. No one was willing to believe that the man in front of him was the dead hero. Chabet, who returned, had experienced hardships abroad and was old and weak. In recent years, the country has undergone tremendous changes. A gouty king replaced Emperor Napoleon, and Chabet's wife had remarried to a nobleman. Chabet did not recognize the society in front of him at all, and this society did not recognize him at all.

The story is about how Natsube tries hard to recover his identity and the life he had before, but in the end he has to give up, as the book says, "deciding to continue to be a dead man." Balzac's work is like a key that opens our minds to understand Satoshi's situation, whether the real Satoshi has appeared or is still invisible.

Every time Xia Bei tried to prove his identity, everyone regarded him as a "madman". Every time someone claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, people also regarded him as a "madman". How could a hero be an ordinary person? Does Satoshi Nakamoto have to be a so-called "normal person"? It is very likely that he is a "madman" in the eyes of ordinary people. These are two very similar stories, one is a war hero, the other is a technology hero.

Xia Bei once shouted:

"I will go to the foot of the column in the Place Vendôme and loudly announce, 'I am Colonel Chabet who defeated the Russian cavalry at the Battle of Eylau!' People will not recognize me, but the bronze and golden column will know who I am!"

I believe that Chabé’s friends warned him, “If you shout, the police will immediately take you to the Charenton Mental Hospital.”

Finally, Chabe gave up. Actually, he had given up long ago. He kept doubting for ten years whether he had really been a colonel in a large army. He said, "I finally realized how ridiculous my story was. I was sad and in pain, but then I gradually calmed down, accepted it, and gave up." Would anyone say that those "impostors" of Satoshi Nakamoto accepted and gave up? Let's take a look at Craig Wright's words of the "Balzac-like protagonist", "I'm very sorry. I originally thought that I could be anonymous for a few years, live my own life in hiding, and then tell everyone who I am. I was ready to produce evidence to prove that I had the key, but in the face of what happened in the past week, I was shaken and I didn't have the courage to continue." This is almost the experience of Chabe.

Craigh_Wright

Time will change everything, including personal destiny, social values, and political power. Just like the wife of Chabet described by Balzac: "Colonel Chabet had known a duchess during the Napoleonic Empire, but now the one standing before him was a duchess during the Restoration."

What would Satoshi think? Eight years have passed since the 2008 global economic crisis, and banks are now more powerful than ever. Goldman Sachs' political tactics seem to be more powerful than before. It is developing blockchain technology without Bitcoin and even wants to apply for a patent. Now the whole world is discussing "blockchain technology" and calculating how to bring it into their game control. Unfortunately, this is far from the original anarchist dream of Bitcoin.

Xia Bei only cares about his wife and his reputation, not his money. As he said, "emotional abundance is more important to me than what I wear." Satoshi Nakamoto's millions of bitcoins are like an abandoned closed treasure house. It seems that no one will ever touch it, and no one knows what will happen to it. In this way, Satoshi Nakamoto doesn't care much about money.

The thing that Xia Bei tried hardest to restore was not his product, but his wife and reputation. He said, "One should be extravagant in the heart, not in clothes." Satoshi Nakamoto also had a lot of money, but like Xia Bei, he seemed to take it lightly.

About the book by Colonel Chabert Jean-Paul Kauffmann

French writer Jean-Paul Kaufmann has conducted an in-depth study of the character of Chabe. He believes that each of us readers can find similarities between Chabe's story and our own experiences. We all have accumulated scars, regrets, and fears. He represents the person who is absent or disappeared, but the person who may threaten oneself. The invisible Satoshi Nakamoto is like a ghost in the turbulent world of Bitcoin, and perhaps a potential "danger" for some people.