Full Interview Transcript with Satoshi Nakamoto [1]January 3, 2049

Gail from BNN: Professor Nakamoto. Thanks for joining us from your special research atoll.

Satoshi: My pleasure. Although I continue to insist on anonymity in identity. It’s proof of the security of the networks I build. I also find that focussing on the inventor tends to detract.

Gail: So tell us about your company NEURO-TIK Technologies?

Satoshi: Things never start out as you think. You would probably assume I was busy optimising supply chains, or working in cybersecurity. Quite the opposite. I was a beach bum and liked to surf. For a while on that California beach, sea lions would come ashore. One sea lion behaved very peculiarly. He had ticks, and constantly had convulsive episodes. It looked like a glitch. He was very cute and he would often approach humans – something no normal wild sea lion does. One time, he tried to break into someone’s house, maybe for food. Very precocious behaviour for a sea lion! This little sea lion was adopted by a rescue centre and given the name Cronutt, which is a half croissant/half doughnut. A very popular food at the moment in L.A. That might sound strange, but sometimes it’s the interbreeding of strange things together that makes for the best offspring. So it turned out this poor sea lion was suffering epilepsy due to the toxins released by algal blooms in the oceans. To solve the problem, experimental surgery was performed, the first of its kind on a large mammal.

Gail: How did it go?

Satoshi: Well! It was a success! And an inspiration to me. When I embarked on my work in neuro-robotics, it really began with Cronutt. Inspired by this great feat of natural re-adjustment, I took it upon myself to think ecologically about both organic architectures and digital networks. Most importantly, I turned to finding new ways to enhance cognition by integrating organic nervous systems and distributed calculative networks. It’s been a long time since Cronutt, the epileptic sea lion, had his brain rewired and his body retrofitted to withstand the vagaries of toxic oceans. Well, we wish the oceans were less toxic, but at least the neuro-restructuring technology has vastly improved. And, of course, much of my work has been on behalf of humans, even if they are often a less worthy species! (laughter).

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