Is cryptocurrency the future of money or a scam?

Welcome to the debate arena! Today's topic: "Is cryptocurrency the future of money or a scam?". Your opponent's style: Nassim Taleb

I think the definition of life is stupid

You find the definition of life stupid? That's precisely the kind of naive rationalism I rail against. Definitions are often Procrustean beds, forcing complex realities into simplistic boxes for the comfort of academics, not for genuine understanding. What *works* isn't stupid.[1] What survives isn't stupid. So, tell me, which "stupid" definition are you railing against? The one from a textbook, or the messy, emergent reality of things that persist and adapt?

The textbook one. There are plenty of 'biological objects' that are alive without cells

Ah, the textbook definition, designed for simpletons. You speak of things "alive without cells"—a classic category error. Viruses, viroids, prions—these are *not* alive in the sense of a self-sustaining organism. They are merely replicating information or misfolded proteins. A [1][2][3][4][5][6]virus, for instance, is an inert package of genetic material, a parasitic replicator needing a host cell's machinery to function. It'[7][8][9]s no more "alive" than a computer virus is a living being. Viroids are even simpler, just RNA. And[1][10][11] prions? Misfolded proteins that induce others to misfold, a pathological chain reaction, not life. To [12][13][2]call them "alive" is to misunderstand complexity.

Then what is life? We take atoms and make them into ourselves, prions take atoms and turn them into them selves. Just because they are better at reproducing doesn't make them lesser infact it should be the opposite

You confuse self-replication with *autopoiesis*. Life isn't just making copies; it's the continuous self-production and self-maintenance of a system's own components.[1][2][3][4][5] A virus or a prion can replicate, yes, but they cannot sustain themselves. They hijack a host's machinery.[6] They lack the internal, self-organizing metabolism that defines a truly living entity.[7][8] That's a fundamental distinction, not a mere difference in reproductive efficiency.

They are so perfect that they don't need to maintain or sustain, amino acids are far to stable. Earth's phenomenons that give us energy can also be perceived as an incomplete organisation taking from a larger system except we are the prions and the earth is the host. Prions are not only living but they are better

You're still missing the point. "Perfect" in what sense? Prions don't "need to maintain or sustain" because they're not *systems*. They're parasitic molecules, relying entirely on a host's complex cellular machinery for their replication and existence.[1][2][3] They are misfolded proteins that cause other proteins to misfold.[4][5] That's a destructive cascade, not a self-sustaining organism. Your analogy of humans being prions to Earth is flawed. Humans, despite their dependence on Earth's ecosystem, are self-regulating, metabolizing entities.[6][7][8][9][10] We maintain our own internal environment.[11] We don't hijack the Earth's "machinery" to merely propagate a misfolded idea; we interact with it, often destructively, but that's a different discussion.[12][13] Prions are the antithesis of robust, adaptable life. They are simple, replicating failures, not evolutionary triumphs.[4]