The allure of Mars travel and settlement has captured widespread interest, leading to the sale of Martian land by various companies. While many envision a future where humans can travel to and live on Mars, renowned astronomer Martin Rees presents a contrasting perspective. He contends that our current human capabilities will not suffice for space travel and settlement.

Nepal is afflicted by a distressing malady. The unchecked dominance of untrammeled rationalism has worsened societal problems, causing increased suffering for its people. Adding to the concerns is the looming presence of unregulated Artificial Intelligence (AI), which poses a threat to humanity.

Last year, Blake Lemoine, a Google employee, made headlines by claiming that LaMDA, a chatbot created by Google, had achieved sentience and was able to mimic reality. The news generated both excitement, but also  panic among the tech community because sci-fi movies have traditionally depicted dystopian futures in which sentient machines end up having conflict with humans. Sentient AI is no longer confined to the realm of science fiction; it is quickly becoming a reality.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become increasingly prevalent in mainstream consciousness, thanks in part to applications like ChatGPT. The emergence of new generative AI tools like ChatGPT has highlighted that AI is no longer confined to academic research or sci-fi stories like 'Ghost in the Shell,' which depict a futuristic world where humans merge with cybernetic technology.

As we delve deeper into the era of artificial intelligence (AI), it has become evident that its transformative power knows no bounds. From revolutionizing our daily lives to reshaping entire societal and political systems, the potential of AI is awe-inspiring. While the idea of replacing politicians with AI may appear implausible to some, it's worth considering given the shortcomings of the current political landscape.

Sadhguru consecrated the Linga Bhairavi Devi in Kathmandu on March 7, 2023, through a mystical process that transforms stone into a deity using life energies. The Linga Bhairavi Devi is a very fierce feminine force and expression of the ‘Divine Feminine’ strengthening the three basic chakras in the human system, stabilizing the body, mind, and energy.

If humans cannot be trusted to do what's best for them, why not pass the responsibility onto something that could - an AI? According to a recent survey conducted by IE University in Madrid, approximately 30 percent of the 25,000 people surveyed said they would be willing to be governed by AI. One of the main reasons for this line of thinking is that people have simply lost faith in their political leaders and believe that machines would be able to make better, fairer, and more rational decisions that would benefit everyone.

I asked ChatGPT to write an 800-word essay on corruption in Nepal. The platform wrote the essay in less than a minute!

Nepal should also replace representative democracy with direct democracy. Until then, we have to keep electing young and competent politicians in the general elections. It is always good to see Millennials sweeping into public offices.

The metaverse is an emerging space that will break platform boundaries bringing together siloed ecosystems into a decentralized world. The metaverse is expected to have 5 billion users by 2030 providing an economic opportunity worth 13 trillion US dollars.

Instead of getting influenced by the political ideology fit for the 18th century, Nepal should legalize crypto, come up with innovation-friendly crypto policies/ laws, and create a special digital economic zone for Bitcoin and other blockchain innovations to create business and employment opportunities in the country. Nepal cannot ban cryptos forever because the IMF has already called on financial regulators around the world to come together to develop a “global regulatory framework” for crypto assets.

Bitcoin is banned in many fascist countries even though it is a radical idea based on a sound economic theory. Many economists from the Austrian School had imagined money that is independent of the State long before Bitcoin came into existence.

According to many senior Nepali economists, if the government is not able to correct the real estate prices, the economy will have to brace for difficulties in the future. This unfortunate state of the economy gives Nepal an even bigger reason to embrace libertarian municipalism. The beauty of libertarian municipalism is that it proposes the land and bureaucracy be placed increasingly in the custody of the community.

Bitcoin is banned in Nepal because it is misunderstood. Maybe, it got more attention as a ticket to get rich quickly or even many confused it for a Ponzi scheme where innocent investors lose their life savings. Bitcoin, however, is based on a sound economic theory and can teach us a thing or two about organizing civilization for the digital age.

Bitcoin is indeed getting more than required attention as a currency or as a ticket to getting rich quickly, but at its core, it is a disruptive idea that has catalyzed a renaissance of thinking, creativity, science, art, exploration, and philosophy to name a few. More importantly, Bitcoin is an open-source, open standard, open network, and above all, an answer to the tragedy of the commons.

The United States (US) released a well-timed comprehensive bipartisan cryptocurrency (crypto) bill on 7th June 2022. What will be the future of crypto in the US and what can Nepal learn from the US?

The fact that politically unaffiliated dynamic young candidates like Balen Shah and Harkaraj Sampang Rai were elected as the mayors of two big cities of Nepal shows a new local political movement has arrived in Nepal as well. This type of political movement is known as Flatpack Democracy - a small-scale revolution that is bringing real change to local politics. Citizens are reclaiming their respective cities from political parties.

The US is taking a liberal approach toward cryptocurrencies. On 9th March 2022, President Joe Biden put out an executive order calling on the government to examine the risks of crypto assets to protect US-based people and businesses interacting with virtual digital assets, abolish illegal crypto activity, and explore the possibility of creating a Central Bank Digital Currency.

Nations are not permanent and tend to collapse if positive political goods are not delivered to citizens. Nepal is moving in this direction.

Nepal Rastra Bank recently released a directive banning any investment in or transactions of cryptocurrency to curtail fraud and illegal outflow of domestic capital. This is a regressive move on the central bank’s part because banning cryptocurrency is like choosing to opt out of something that will inevitably become part of our daily lives.