There is a debate in cryptocurrency surrounding the merits of proof of work vs. proof of stake. Personally, I better understand the reasons surrounding proof of work's superiority when it comes to creating sound money.
The concept of proof of work is an interesting mental model to impose in different spheres of life. On the one hand, I think of this as you have to expend a certain amount of energy to get an outcome.
I believe (as do many religions and philosophies) that there is some sort of karmic balance within the universe, such that you must provide value in order to extract value.
People who lie, cheat, and steal ultimately will be worse off than those who operate with integrity. Whether or not that manifests itself during our finite lifetimes on earth, and what that manifestation looks like is another set of debates.
Marcus Aurelius and the stoics for example will say that being a "bad person" is its own form of punishment, with quotes like "the best revenge is to not be like them". Instead of sinking to the level of the person who wrongs you, maintain your virtue and integrity. If you instead respond with anger or cruelty and actually take that "eye for an eye", then you are only harming yourself.
This extends to the concept that "there is no free lunch", i.e. if it is too good to be true, than it probably is not.
This is a good rule of thumb to avoid being tricked.
I have tried to think of other areas where proof of work would apply, and the most obvious one for me is in physical fitness.
You can't eat junk food all the time, never exercise, and be very healthy. In order to have true health, there needs to be some work.
But what about Ozempic? Or steroids? Aren't those clear shortcuts where you can subvert the system and get the outputs while skipping over the inputs?
Maybe. Steroids have their own sets of consequences such that the downstream health impacts could outweigh the short term health benefits.
Ozempic has been touted as a "magic bullet" that can help people lose weight mostly by creating fake satiety signals and reducing cravings, but it is to be seen how this impacts other areas of life.
It is worth thinking about other areas where that may apply.
Beyond physical appearance, skill development is quite hard to fake, and I would add education/wisdom/knowledge to this category.
If someone is incredibly technically competent at something, whether it be martial arts, basketball, engineering, or the arts, it is difficult to fake that for long - especially when you are in the arena.
What about wealth?
Wealth is tricky since there are certainly people who work really hard to amass a lot of value, but there are also people who scam and steal and cheat to get ahead. Just because someone has a lot of money, it does not mean they provided an equivalent value to society.
Trust/reputation is an interesting concept since it is difficult to observe and tough to scale. Trust has to be built, there is no question, but it is also has an ephemeral quality in that it can evaporate in an instant.
Strong relationships?
This is hard to fake, but also can be difficult to test from the outside looking in. Someone with a lot of friends may be buying them off or may have some sort of leverage. People are manipulative. Sometimes a happy marriage from the outside looking in can be on the verge of collapse.
The personal development side of things is another can of worms that is easy to fake on the outside but hard to test from the outside. It is easy to fool yourself, and it is impossible to prove to anyone else what goes on inside your own head, so that is a tough one.
Naval has a great quote where he says, “A fit body, a calm mind, a house full of love. These things cannot be bought—they must be earned.”
I agree, but it really only applies to yourself. I could look at someone with a fit body that paid a lot of money for ozempic and is on performance enhancers and had to do minimal work. I can look at someone who looks peaceful and enlightened but is actually a psychopath. There are plenty of examples of people portraying a house full of love that is in reality deeply broken.
Proof of work in Bitcoin produces an output that is highly mathematically improbable to have been acquired without a significant amount of work.
A true fit body used to be in that category, I am not sure if it will be forever.
By the Bitcoin definition of proof of work, I think that the knowledge/skill angle is one of the best analogs in that you can see an output, i.e. someone who is incredibly skilled at some activity, or has an unbelievable depth and breadth of knowledge in a subject, and you know without a doubt that there has been considerable work put in to get to that point.
An interesting lens to look at the world if nothing else.