Cultural Yearring Theory: Analyzing the Formation and Solidification of Attitudes towards New and Old Things

Recently, a well-known blockchain expert published an in-depth article proposing a novel concept called the "Cultural and Political Year Ring Model" to explain the mechanism of social attitudes towards new and old things. This model reveals an interesting phenomenon: attitudes towards new things are often shaped by the prevailing social atmosphere, while attitudes towards old things are more influenced by inherent inertia. Once these "cultural year rings" are formed, they are difficult to change.

The Contrast Between Reality and Intuition

The article points out that people generally believe that the United States tends to be more open and open-source, while China leans towards being closed and controlled. However, in the field of artificial intelligence, this perception is completely reversed. Five years ago, if someone had predicted that the advantages of China and the United States in open-source and closed-source AI would reverse, many people would have found it hard to believe.

Core Concepts of the Annual Ring Model

1. The attitude of culture towards new things depends on the social atmosphere and incentive mechanisms at the time of formation.
2. The attitude towards old things is mainly driven by "status quo bias" and is difficult to change.
3. Each era will form new annual rings on the cultural tree, representing the attitude of that period towards emerging things.
4. Once these attitudes are formed, they will quickly solidify and become difficult to shake.

Application of Models in Practice

The Regulatory Differences Between the Internet and AI

• The open internet culture formed in the 1990s has been maintained for a long time.
• After the 21st century, the overall trend of regulation has strengthened, but it has not affected the core of the internet.
• Mature AI technologies in the 2020s face different regulatory environments.

Stability of Taxation and Fiscal Policies

The level of taxation is mainly constrained by government budgetary needs, which were basically determined 50 years ago and are difficult to change significantly.

The difference in attitudes towards new and old risks ###

The level of vigilance in society towards the risks of modern technology is often higher than that towards some traditional high-risk activities (such as extreme mountaineering), reflecting the differences in risk tolerance formed in different periods.

The special status of social media

Social media is regarded as part of the internet, yet it is treated as a new phenomenon, thus its regulatory attitude lies somewhere in between.

The reversal of the China-US AI competition landscape

As a follower in the AI field, China has adopted a strategy of "complementary products to commercial competitors' advantages," which aligns with the open-source preferences of the developer community, creating a friendly environment for open-source AI.

Revelation: Innovation is better than change

The article concludes that changing entrenched cultural concepts is very difficult. In contrast, creating new behavioral patterns and establishing good norms and cultural foundations at the outset is more feasible. This is precisely the allure of the cryptocurrency and Web3 space: they provide an environment free from existing biases, allowing for the exploration of new things.

The author believes that instead of trying to change the old system, it is better to inject new vitality into the entire "forest" by cultivating new "tree species." This viewpoint provides new ideas for future technological development and social change.