The strange economics of Meme coins, how the Magna Carta shaped modern freedom and why habits form in the brain
Welcome back to the number one microlearning newsletter. Grab your coffee, here is your five-minute fix for learning about three new things.
💸 The Strange Economics Of Meme Coins
Every financial craze has a story, but meme coins might tell the oddest one yet. In 2013 two software engineers created Dogecoin as a joke to parody Bitcoin speculation. They wanted to satirise the crypto craze, not amplify it. Yet within a decade their currency had surpassed Ford Motor Company in market value, propelled by Elon Musk's tweets and waves of online traders. Thousands of meme coins now surge and crash with internet trends, valued for attention and humor rather than fundamentals.
Anyone can create a meme coin in minutes using a blockchain platform (a digital system that records transactions securely and publicly). The creator generates coins and lists them on decentralised exchanges (like eBay for crypto-currencies) where people trade directly without middlemen. From there it's all about virality. The more attention on social media, the higher the price climbs. But this openness has a dark side. Rug pulls, where founders suddenly take the money and disappear, are extremely common. In 2021 the Squid Game token shot up over 20 million percent before its creators vanished with $3 million. Regulators have begun investigating, but catching culprits in the anonymous world of crypto remains difficult.
Still, meme coins aren't just about greed or gullibility. They're a mirror of the modern world where finance and internet culture collide. When coins like TrumpCoin or MAGA Coin appeared, they became ways to signal belonging to a digital tribe. These communities mix irony with conviction, turning speculation into collective theatre where price reflects attention, belief, and emotion as much as demand. In an age where attention is the new gold, some argue belief has become the most valuable currency of all.
The meteoric rise of President Trump’s Meme Coin
📜How the Magna Carta Shaped Modern Freedom
In the summer of 1215, England teetered on the edge of civil war. King John's failed wars and punishing taxes had pushed his barons to rebellion. Cornered, he was forced to meet them in a riverside meadow at Runnymede where they made him seal the Magna Carta. Latin for "Great Charter," it was meant to rein in royal power and protect noble privilege. Few realized they had just planted the seed of modern democracy.
At first glance the document was anything but revolutionary. Pages of feudal details about debts, forests, and widows' dowries. Yet hidden among them was a clause that even the king must obey the law. It was a principle so subversive that later monarchs tried to ignore it and reformers kept resurrecting it. By the 17th century, Parliament invoked the Magna Carta against Charles I. Centuries later American colonists did the same demanding liberty from another George across the sea.
Of its 63 clauses, only three survive in English law today, including the one promising that "no free man shall be imprisoned except by the lawful judgment of his equals or by the law of the land." The words are medieval, but their meaning is timeless. The Magna Carta endures as the moment when absolute power first met accountability and blinked.
Painting depicting the signing of the Magna Carta
🧠 How Habits Form In The Brain
Every habit you have, from checking your phone to tying your shoes, is your brain saving energy. Neuroscientists call this "chunking," where the basal ganglia, a cluster of structures deep in your brain, compresses repeated actions into automatic routines. When you repeat an action enough times, it stops being a conscious choice processed by the prefrontal cortex and becomes automatic, handled by older, more efficient brain regions.
This isn't laziness, but survival refined over millions of years. Early humans needed every ounce of mental energy for hunting, escaping predators, and solving novel problems. Automating small actions like starting fires or tracking familiar paths freed up cognitive resources for staying alive. MIT researchers have found that habit formation physically changes neural pathways, strengthening certain connections while pruning others.
That ancient system still drives you today. Studies using fMRI scans show that when habits form, brain activity shifts from the prefrontal cortex to the basal ganglia, reducing energy expenditure by up to 90% for that task. Your brain's mission remains simple, conserve energy and keep you moving forward with minimal resistance. Habits are living proof that even in our modern world, your mind still runs on Stone Age logic. The brain always chooses the path of least resistance not just to survive, but to thrive.
The Key To Forming New Habits
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Until next time…. - A Little Wiser Team
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