Bitcoin White Paper cites b-money author Wei Dai

Author: Kurt Pan; Source: XPTY

Introduction: This article is taken from Mr. Dai Xiwei's autobiography "Crossing the River" published in 2003. Mr. Dai Xiwei was one of the highest-level Chinese in Microsoft technology. In the article, D is Mr. Dai's self-proclaimed name, d is Mr. Dai's wife, and wd is their son, Mr. Wei Dai, a famous cypherpunk, the author of b-money, the first reference in the Bitcoin white paper, and the famous C++ cryptography open source library Crypto++, and the object of the smallest unit of Ethereum, Wei. Mr. Wei Dai's contribution and thinking on the cypherpunk movement, Bitcoin and blockchain digital currency, and superhuman intelligence are still in the historical process of being gradually known to the world. This article can even provide reference and inspiration for American education today. The full text was digitized by OCR after I purchased the old book at a premium. The complete content is the first time it has appeared publicly on the Internet. If there is any infringement, please contact me to delete it.

"The world is yours, and it is ours, but in the final analysis, it is yours. You young people are full of vigor and vitality, and you are in your prime, just like the sun at eight or nine o'clock in the morning. Hope rests on you."

This is an impromptu speech that D read when Mao Zedong visited Chinese students in Moscow in 1956. It is a very humane quotation from Mao Zedong that has nothing to do with class struggle. In the days of "Three Loyalties and Four Infinites" in the Cultural Revolution, D also composed a Xinjiang-flavored quotation song for bass. At that time, whenever D read this quotation or sang the songs he wrote, he would often forget himself, as if he was really like a rising sun, gushing out and rising slowly. A sense of pride and self-confidence arose in his heart, and he temporarily forgot that he was not yet a member of the "Five Red Categories" or a member of the Party and the League.

In the IT industry where heroes emerge in large numbers and each leads the way, D finally felt a little tired. However, as one wave passes, another wave comes. In D's little computer family, a new IT person emerged.

wd was born in Shanghai in 1976, just a few months after the fall of the Gang of Four.

When his mother took him to the United States at the age of 9, he was already a fourth-grade student in elementary school. He was inserted into the fifth grade in the United States, but he had to start learning English from ABC. Naughty American children laughed at his Chinese clothes and his excellent math grades. In their eyes, he was a math monster from China. He only talked about these experiences with everyone after he grew up. As a child, he had almost no toys. But as soon as he arrived in the United States, there was more than one computer on the table at home. Not knowing English, he couldn't play the intelligence games on the computer. This made him learn to write programs on the computer from the beginning. At the age of 10, wd helped his uncle who came to the United States as a visiting scholar to complete the graphic output printing program of a mathematical formula calculation result in analytical chemistry on the PC, which amazed his uncle.

As his parents moved again, wd transferred to Brookline Middle School, one of the best public schools in Boston. He skipped a grade in an assessment. The next thing surprised D. He participated in a composition competition held by Boston Public Schools and won the first place in the junior high school grade. His article was published in the newspaper. Before that, when wd happily took back the small trophy of the city's elementary and middle school computer competition, D was very happy, but it was not too surprising. But it was less than 3 years since he started learning English from ABC. He won the first place in the English short essay competition with American first-year junior high school students, which surprised D and D.

The proposition of the competition was to write about someone you are familiar with. The competition time was 40 minutes. This test paper d is preserved to this day:

Chinese translation:

My Mother

Author: wd

"Your mother called!" My uncle shouted from outside the house. I ran out of the door as soon as I heard it. 30 seconds later, I ran to the public phone where my mother called. I held the phone, but tears welled up in my eyes. She was at the airport preparing to fly to the United States. She said goodbye and cried. I was 6 years old at that time. When I saw her again, 3 years had passed. My mother's name is Xiaoying. She was born in a large family in Shanghai, China after the end of World War II. She is very smart and received a good education in China. She was very good at math and dreamed of becoming a teacher. When Xiaoying graduated from college, China was experiencing the Cultural Revolution. Her job changed from farm to radio factory to observatory and finally to the Space Center. After working at the Space Center for 8 years (Note: it should be the Observatory of the Academy of Sciences plus the Space Center of the Academy of Sciences for a total of 8 years. Children don’t remember as clearly as adults.), my mother decided to continue her studies in the United States. Although my father was already there, my mother still had to work for another year to earn enough money for school. She found a job as a waitress in a Chinese restaurant. She had to work 12 hours a day at a less than reasonable wage. Xiaoying finally made enough money, and my father finished his education and found a job. But life was still hard. My mother's English was not very good, and she had no access to computers when she was studying in college in China, which became her knowledge gap and difficulty. But a year later, she caught up with all the students, and another year, she was almost the best student in the class. After 5 years in the United States, she now has a good education, a good job and a good family. It is true to say that she is confident, hardworking and smart. She came to the United States with no money, she worked in restaurants and farms, and she was always the best student in the class. But more important than all of this, she loves her home. And I love you, too, Mom.

Frankly speaking, compared with the writing prodigies I have seen, this short essay is nothing. The English is quite fluent (it loses a lot of color when translated into Chinese), but the content is too concise, probably due to the time limit of the examination room. But the scene of a 6-year-old child saying goodbye to his mother is portrayed very vividly. The hardships experienced by a first-generation immigrant family were recorded by an 11-year-old child in a simple but very accurate way. In a country composed of immigrants, this is a common experience that is very easy to resonate with. This short essay also made D and d feel that wd is no longer the little child who came to kiss his mother in the morning before catching the school bus. d was deeply moved, and the child remembered everything the adults did clearly.

During the summer vacation of the second grade of junior high school, wd, like most American children, began his summer job career. This may be a very different aspect between the American education system and the Chinese education system, more like a big tiger starting to teach a little tiger how to pounce. Most American children at this age still choose to do jobs within their ability, such as delivering newspapers and cleaning cars in the community. But wd ran to the oil software company where his mother was working, which provided oil well data analysis for several major oil companies in the world, to be a programmer. The boss looked at wd, who was thinner than white children of the same age, and was skeptical. The company understood the true meaning of middle school students working during the summer vacation, so it generously promised and let him choose any topic he could handle. After browsing the information, the kid quietly chose a topic: write a subroutine in C language to convert the floating-point data of different formats used in the company's software products due to different types of client machines into floating-point data of the standard format specified by IEEE (International Institute of Electrical Engineers). This will make it easier to connect the data of the company's products with those of other companies. D couldn't help but sigh that little wd was extraordinary. The format conversion of floating-point data in the computer is also difficult for adult programmers. Two weeks later, when wd's subroutine passed the test and was put into the company's products, the adults applauded him. As a mother who works with wd, she is of course proud. D was also filled with relief that this child would not have to worry about finding a job in the United States.

In his freshman year, the school recommended WD to take elective courses in the Department of Computer Science at Harvard University. All elective courses taken will be counted in Harvard University's credit record. This means that, in theory, WD can graduate from Brookland High School and Harvard University at the same time, and the high school (actually the state government) will pay for the tuition. Everything was arranged. On the afternoon when WD was about to drive him to Cambridge for class, D, who had always been a "good friend", suddenly refused to do it. No matter how much he tried to persuade WD, he remained indifferent and finally wanted to rush out. D was so anxious that he grabbed his hands tightly and blocked the door. Although he did not break the creed of "never hitting children", he was so angry that he gritted his teeth in his heart. After a stalemate of dozens of minutes and about to be late, wd finally announced: "You win!"

In Harvard's classroom, wd, a freshman in high school, is still among the top students. But many years later, the father and son still argue about the "right" and "wrong" of sending you to Harvard: "Since your high school recommended you to Harvard, it means that from the perspective of education experts, you have the ability to study university courses, and you should also start studying university courses."

"But this arrangement deprives me of the spare time that I should have at that age."

D thinks this statement is somewhat reasonable, but still continues: "That's because, with only the little knowledge in high school, your teacher saw that you had too much spare time, so he arranged for you to start going to college."

"Why can't I arrange this spare time by myself? In fact, those courses that should have been taken in college are easier to learn in college, and the use of time is more efficient."

It seems to make sense. D thought of the junior classes held by his alma mater, the University of Science and Technology of China, and wondered what those children thought.

When he was in the sixth grade of elementary school, one day, wd ran to D and asked: "Why do people live?"

D answered casually: "To contribute to society."

"Why should we contribute to society?"

wd continued to ask. D began to be alert. From the different education systems in China to the United States, the children themselves felt that the values ​​in teaching had changed.

If you think about it carefully, every corner and every group in human society must educate the next generation. At least they should be taught how to make a living and be able to stand on their own in a group; they should also be trained to be useful to this group. This is basically the same.

When D first transferred to an American school, the school took a two-pronged approach. On the one hand, the school warned parents to respect the teaching rules of children and not to put pressure on their children in their own way. On the other hand, the school told the children directly that the parents' requirements were not necessarily correct and that they should obey the school's arrangements. This made D feel that it was different from Chinese schools right from the start. Perhaps the school had heard about the "Jackie Chan" education of most Chinese parents and gave them a shot of prevention first. This also aroused D's interest: Let's see how American primary and secondary education is different.

Unless you want to go to a private school, primary and secondary education in the United States is completely free. This includes tuition, school buses to pick up children, textbooks, lunch, etc. Even WD went to Harvard, since it was recommended by the middle school and the decision was made by the middle school, Harvard's tuition was also paid by the middle school. This treatment is the same for children living in the United States, even if you are an illegal immigrant. The buildings, libraries, computer rooms, etc. of American primary and secondary schools are not much different from those of newly built schools in major cities in China. But most Chinese schools cannot compare with sports venues, which shows that Americans are very addicted to national sports. In D's opinion, the educational policy of American elementary schools may be just one word: play, teachers take students to play. Learning through play, this is really different from the elementary school D attended.

Once the parents' meeting starts, every parent will hear pleasant and comforting comments about how smart, beautiful, and capable your child is. In the end, they will also say lightly that if you make a little more effort in some areas, you will be smarter and more beautiful.

D is very grateful for the teacher's dedication. Wd, a fifth-grade student, does not know English at all. An American lady insisted on arriving at school an hour early every morning to give Wd a special English class one-on-one. This teacher persisted for a whole year. In the sixth grade, Wd's math was far beyond the same age. Another teacher found a middle school textbook and taught math to a student again for another year.

wd's high school is a four-year system. Whether it is two years in Boston or two years in Seattle, D has never seen him do any homework at home. He rushed to finish all his homework in school before school was over, which made him much happier than Chinese students of the same age.

The education in primary and secondary schools in the United States is basically heuristic and interactive. In addition to mathematics and physics, art, sports, and humanities are given a very important position in the arrangement of courses. There is not much pressure on homework and exams. In class, more emphasis is placed on students' ability to analyze and solve problems. The training of doing project research even starts from elementary school in the United States.

In addition to legal and moral education, it is not allowed by law to instill political and religious beliefs in the classroom. Integrity is placed at the top of all moral standards. (Note: In the United States, if a person has a record of lying in his or her file, it is indeed difficult for him or her to get along in society. As presidents, Nixon and Clinton were both revoked their lawyer licenses by the American Bar Association because of lying. Of course, not being caught is another matter.) Students are encouraged to participate in various public welfare and social activities inside and outside the school. This is also one of the important evaluation conditions for whether or not to be admitted to a prestigious university. If students' various extracurricular interests are legitimate, the school is willing to work hard to promote them, and even provide additional funding to help.

The "full score plus cotton sheep" education system can often eliminate the "youth rebellion period" of Chinese children in the bud. "Being a man with your tail between your legs" is the essence of self-cultivation that has been continuously instilled in schools and society for two thousand years. However, without "teacher's dignity", without restraint and norms, and encouraging individuality, how to adapt to the rebellious period of children's growth seems to be a problem that the American system still needs to study. Drug abuse, school violence, dropping out of school... all seriously trouble American principals and parents.

American primary and secondary education provides sufficient material conditions and a positive atmosphere for talented children, fully encourages children's creativity, and helps them to continuously impact upward. For children with some lack of talent, it provides a relaxed and pleasant learning environment, patiently cultivates children's self-confidence, and enables the physical, mental and knowledge development to be as normal as possible. But for most children in the middle, for those who could have become successful under the "rule", American education may be too permissive.

wd moved to Seattle and interrupted his studies at Harvard University. His high school life became more relaxed and detached. He made full use of libraries all over the United States and read widely. (Note: As a government service to taxpayers, in the United States, you can borrow books from any online public library in the United States for free through the Internet. The library will send it to you free of charge through the post office. After reading, just return it to the local library.) Debating with wd on various topics is a frequent pleasure between father and son. When driving out for a long trip, the debate between father and son has become a good medicine to solve the fatigue of long-distance driving. It is this frequent discussion that makes D, who is also a computer engineer, feel that wd's knowledge structure has begun to surpass himself.

With a full scholarship and a part-time job at Microsoft nearby, wd easily entered the computer department of Washington State University. This is a school that ranks among the top ten in terms of research and teaching level among computer departments of American universities. The school is right next to their home in Seattle, which is of course welcomed by D and D. wd still has an easy time studying. wd used his spare time in his freshman year to complete a software library in C++ language that covers the main encryption and decryption algorithms that have been publicly published, and put it online as free software, becoming the first free source code library in C++ language for file encryption and decryption in North America that is shared by all people and is still widely used around the world (including China). This source code library has also been continuously cited in many computer books and papers in the United States and Europe. Most people can't imagine that this is what a freshman did. It was in his freshman year that wd established his position as a cryptographic software engineer with a considerable reputation in the American computer industry.

I forgot which year in college it was, but wd represented the University of Washington in a computer and economics competition held by an American institution. In the state qualifiers, wd won first place in both events, but he could only choose one in the national finals. wd gave the computer competition to his friend from the same school. He also won the silver medal in the national competition in the economics special competition as a student of the computer department.

Since middle school, wd has worked in the cryptography group of Microsoft Research every summer vacation. During this period, he met many of the most famous or outstanding experts in this field in the United States (many experts also use the summer vacation to do guest research) and served as their assistant. The simple wd once pointed out the conceptual errors in the world-class authoritative papers in public (which made D very upset afterwards). It was not until he graduated from college, published a series of papers, and registered several patents (all handled by Microsoft. If it were wd himself, he would probably be too lazy to deal with these red tape), that wd seemed to see through the secrets of these top scientific research institutions. He stopped studying for a doctorate and refused to stay at Microsoft Research Institute. He accepted the invitation of the former boss of Lotus (an internationally renowned software brand that has been sold to IBM) and went to do something they were both interested in.

wd still worked tirelessly for ten years to maintain and update his free computer password generation and decryption C++ language source code library (Crypto C++ Class Library), and devoted a lot of energy to the formulation of various standard protocols in their field by IEEE. At first, D was puzzled by wd's active participation in such a public welfare behavior that had no commercial interests and should have been participated by large companies or universities, but wd just laughed it off and did not answer.

wd gave up the graduate degree that could have been easily obtained without hesitation, and D was also very sad at first. D said: "What can you say? Isn't he doing it just like you?" This is not entirely true. Having been "good friends" with wd for more than 20 years, D realized that wd is actually another new generation of IT people - a generation of IT people who are still developing quietly, but may eventually bring changes to the future direction of the IT industry. Growing up with their personal computers, these people have never worried too much about food and clothing. They all study very hard, studying textbooks, and more often studying their favorite topics outside of textbooks. Whether in school or in society, they like to pursue a comfortable and efficient working environment and platform. However, they are not moved by the vulgarity of the world, and are still keen to follow their own interests and pursue various challenges that excite them. However, they do not intend to imitate Kuafu to chase the sun that is always out of reach. They are more interested in the prey within their field of vision, from "tigers" to "rabbits", one shot at a time... In their eyes, reputation or status is not bad at all, as for more, that is other people's business. Since everything they do is only to be true to their own feelings, any falsehood and speculation are of course despised by this group. The heroes of the older generation, such as Gates or others, are of course admired for their success, but they are not their role models. Manipulating a huge organization can certainly meet greater challenges, but this organization will also manipulate you. Why lose yourself and become a symbol? "When you are in the arena, you still have to be yourself", is their ideal. These people also work and set up companies, but their real purpose is not to drink. These people often put their masterpieces directly on the Internet, completely open and free to use. Linux is one of the most famous works of this kind. The vanity behind their noble faces is, how many people are using my stuff? Those hackers who like to proudly "visit here" are just a subset of this larger group that is more eye-catching and known to ordinary people. More people seem to be hiding outside the vision of traditional society, living their own free and undisturbed days.

In the past 20 years, as PCs and the Internet have entered thousands of households, this group has sprouted rapidly in Europe and the United States. In a society with relatively abundant material resources, "eating" is not a problem for a group of people with high IQ. Labor is more for the purpose of expressing oneself and for enjoyment. A real enjoyment! This makes D often think of the communist ideal that his generation had described back then.

Since college, wd has published many papers, but he was too lazy to tell his parents. The reason was: "You won't read it seriously anyway, the paper is for those who want to read it."

wd declined the invitation from Microsoft Research to join officially when he graduated from college. The invitation even allowed him to work at home. Although he is retired, D, who still pays attention to Microsoft, advised wd: "Look, the Chinese media has praised Microsoft China Research Institute to such an extent!"

wd smiled. He has worked at Microsoft Research Institute for 4 years (although it was a college intern), and he doesn't mind what name he works under. Hasn't he published several papers and registered many Microsoft patents in his own name? It's good as long as Microsoft is using it! He is more willing to find new environments and new content.

Using the concepts he published publicly on his website, a group of foreigners in the circle found 12 million US dollars of venture capital and established a software company called Zeroknowlogy in Montreal, Canada. (Kurt Pan: Not only blockchain, the legitimacy of ZK is still in the hands of cypherpunks!) Because the product the company wants to build is to provide invisible servers for the Internet, the company attracted the attention of the media and relevant departments as soon as it was established. Privately, North American people are concerned about privacy when surfing the Internet; publicly, this may be a weapon for fighting cyber warfare. The company leader who got the money and was full of confidence turned around and hired WD as the company's chief scientist. WD, who was young and proud, went to Montreal for a trip, but did not want to take office. He told his friends frankly that although his concept was correct, the existing technical conditions could not really turn the concept into a product in the short term. It was not his wish to burn other people's money.

Finally, wd ran back from Seattle to Boston and accepted the invitation of the former boss of Lotus Company. Their concept of peer to peer on the Internet attracted wd again. wd was too lazy to go shopping. This group of people was probably the earliest practitioners of e-commerce in the world, and of course they were also the earliest customers targeted by online merchants. They can always find satisfactory and cheap things on the Internet for food, clothing, housing and transportation. Everything is done with ease, and there will always be people who deliver things to your door, so why not do it. In the United States, this "lazy" team is expanding day by day, and more and more people are joining their ranks. Merchants seem to have begun to find the feeling of making money online. (Kurt Pan Note: Note that this article was written in the early 21st century.)

Wd, who is already in his twenties, rarely has any friends visiting him. But every day when he gets home from get off work, he has to deal with dozens or even more emails first. He has a group of friends all over the world who have been communicating online for more than ten years. Every time he visits a big city, he can contact his friends. However, this is often the first time they have met in several years. He also has another mailing list group that is even larger, with thousands of people. That is the users who have been using his computer password generation and decryption source code library for free for 10 years. (Kurt Pan's note: the golden age of "cypherpunk" mailing lists.)

wd still lives with d. He is still like a child, and what is worrying is that he often works for more than ten hours before remembering that he has not eaten today.

When he lies on the long sofa in the surround sound home theater with his eyes squinting and listens to his favorite piano concerto, D and d will quietly leave this space for him, a rare moment of selflessness and intoxication.

wd The members of their "community" live in their own virtual yet real online world, they are alone, but also enjoy it in groups. It reminds D of the fairy tale world of knights in Jin Yong's works. As a group, their influence on the IT industry in Europe and the United States has begun to show in European and American society.

Dinner is a time for the whole family to get together. Usually they will spend some time chatting about the strange and interesting things they have seen and read. Not long ago, wd introduced the story of the future "nano fog" discussed by his friends on the Internet (the so-called nano is 0.000000001 meter):

"Nano fog" is a group of nano-sized computers and nano-sized computer peripherals. With a series of breakthrough developments in nanotechnology in the United States, venture capital companies have begun to invest in the development of simple nano computers. That is to say, nanocomputers have begun to enter a practical state (although the functions are still simple). In the next 20 years, nanocomputers may reach and exceed the functions of today's computers, which may no longer be wishful thinking. (Kurt Pan's note: History is so ironic. These 20 years are exactly the 20 years when biochemical environmental materials went from hope for the future to the sinkhole, and at the same time, they are the golden 20 years for the development of cryptographic technology.) The characteristics and development of nanotechnology should make the replication of nanocomputers relatively simple or almost "costless". Then in 20 or 30 years, it should be possible for everyone to own thousands, tens of thousands, hundreds of millions of nanocomputers. Nanocomputers and nano peripherals as small as molecules are suspended in the air, which is nano mist. Nano mist follows the owner and is everywhere. Are you tired of climbing in the wilderness? Nano mist will automatically combine into a temporary seat for you to rest. Are you hungry? Nano mist will immediately pick leaves or weeds on the roadside and change their molecular structure, cooking them into delicious food for you to enjoy. Ah, the famous magic lamp in Arabia only provides three magical services to the lucky owner. Nano mist is tireless and can be driven by you. However, what still worries wd's friends is that if nano mist attacks according to human DNA characteristics, enters the human body, and destroys molecules and cells one by one, nano mist will become an almost defenseless nano virus. And it is much more difficult to develop a nano vaccine that can resist nano viruses than a purely destructive nano virus. (Kurt Pan's note: The era of bio-cryptography security attack and defense is bound to come! "The 21st century is the century of biology" may be correct, but it refers to the second half of the 21st century.) I hope that nano vaccines will be born before nano viruses.