Bitcoiners: Check Your Privilege, I Mean Time Preference \ stacker news ~bitcoin

Bitcoiners: Check Your Privilege, I Mean Time Preference

4733 sats \ 9 comments \ @kepford 16 May 2023 bitcoin

Lately I've been thinking about high time preference. For those that have heard this term and are not familiar, the layman's definition is short term vs. long term thinking. Many bitcoiners like to think of themselves as having low time preference. In other words they are patient. In practice and even on Stacker.news I've noticed more high time preference signals in bitcoiners than we'd like to admit. Here are some examples.

Price / fiat exchange rate
Government adoption or defeat
Mass adoption

All of these are essentially high time preference related. I'll expand on each of them. I'm curious what you all think though.

Bitcoin Fiat Exchange Price

This is probably the most obvious high time preference example in bitcoin. New bitcoiners tend to fall into the trap of obsessing over price. When bitcoin price spikes to all time highs everyone is interested and is asking me about bitcoin. When price falls and you can stack more sats no one cares. Granted, price still matters but the idea that you are gonna get rich with bitcoin trading is high time preference. To quote Saifedean this is "Fiat mind". Bitcoin is a great store of value but right now it is still in its infancy when compared to gold and even fiat. Adjust your time preference bitcoiners.

Government Adoption or Defeat

All empires fall. There is a paradox I've noticed. Most fiat people can't imagine a world where the US government is not in control of the world. Even a brief look at history points out the folly of this mindset. In the early 1980s most Americans could not imagine the fall of the USSR. In 1989 it was all over. Bitcoiners on the other hand often have this fever dream that the US / Fiat world will fold in the next year or two. That could happen but it may not happen for the next 25-100 years. There are even people that think we should speed up the fall of these empires by violence. Again, this is high time preference and foolish.

Then you have the people that are obsessed with politics and getting politicians to "support" bitcoin. If bitcoin requires politician's support we are doomed. IMO bitcoin will eventually obsolete the existing political system. As the bitcoin network grows political support will occur organically. Focus on helping your fellow plebs. Ignore these clowns that attempt to rule over us.

Mass Adoption

I hear people say over and over again how bitcoin has existed for so long and why hasn't it been adopted by the masses? This is a huge example of high time preference. The reality is that for those how could easily adopt bitcoin they currently fail to see the need. For those that need it most, adoption is not simple or easy yet. We will get there but we are not there yet. It will take time. Those of us in relatively free and prosperous nations should be using bitcoin as much as we can, helping test the tools, and supporting development of better tools.

Conclusion

Bitcoin is a tool for civilization. It is a revolutionary idea and technology. Sure, I want to see bitcoin mass adoption in my lifetime. I want to see the warfare state end. I want to see open source money spread across the world. These things will happen. If they don't happen in the next 5 years that doesn't mean bitcoin has failed. As individuals who value freedom and self sovereignty focus on becoming free. Freedom and sovereignty requires responsibility and if you aren't working towards becoming free and sovereign you won't be ready when the existing system fails. We need to adjust our time preference. We need to focus on the long term growth and health of bitcoin for humanity's sake.

What did I miss. What did I get wrong. Thanks for reading :)

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356 sats \ 1 reply \ @kepford OP 16 May 2023

Ha, I knew I'd think of something else.

Ignoring privacy is a very high time preference. If you really believe bitcoin will win you should be minding your bitcoin privacy. I'm not saying everyone needs to be 100% anonymous but we in the western world are very loose with our opsec. This is very high time preference behavior.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @ek 16 May 2023

yeah, any information you tell others about yourself, you can never take back.

41 sats \ 1 reply \ @2bithits 16 May 2023

We just need yo be a little careful about this idea of time preference.

What I mean is it could be a way to become lazy by thinking everything will just work itself out. Maybe it will, but we still need to work on bitcoin using our best individual skills, and not expect the results too soon.

If we continue to work on bitcoin, the results will eventually come.

1 sat \ 0 replies \ @kepford OP 16 May 2023

Yep! This is a very good point. We can go to far in both directions.

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @cristaiji 17 May 2023

Great thread. Thank you. 😊🙏

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @gnilma 17 May 2023

Adoption of a new money takes a very long time, usually spanning generations. Saying "we are still early" is an understatement to how truly early at the adoption stage we are currently sitting. Your post reminded me of Svetski's article The Three Generations Theory. I recommend anyone to give it a read if they had not already done so.

Most of us grew up under the fiat standard, with high time preference behavior and wanting instant gratification ingrained in our hearts and minds. Some realize the flaw through bitcoin or family or other means, but it is difficult to change a bad habit, especially a habit one had been practicing their whole life. As such, it is normal to see bitcoin adopters exhibit these high time preference behavior. I think these people just haven't got rid of their bad habits. If they were to continue to spend time and work learning about bitcoin, surely, the bad habits will eventually shed.

I strongly believe bitcoin mass adoption will come, hopefully in my lifetime, but I wouldn't mind it happening after I die. All I really want is for my children to live better lives than I did, and my grandchildren to live better lives than my children. If bitcoin continues to exist throughout the years into the future, I think I have a decent chance of getting what I want.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @LDDV88 17 May 2023

Yes it is, anyone of us dreamt of those things our hearts desire most, peace, freedom and let us say adoption to bitcoin. Yet not everyone think the dreams we have. They have their own dreams, opposite with ours. And the saddest thing is, aside from us no one cared about making bitcoin a substitute currency for trade.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @033daf6a55 17 May 2023

watch out. if you become free, don't get disconnected from reality) bitcoin is just a minor evolutionary process, just like life adapted after the dinosaurs and is able to first see a meteorite and make a decision to survive. Life is like that, it gives you the tools for the future!))) which will come sooner than you think))

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @l0k18 17 May 2023

It's nice having folks like RFK talking about it but the game theory plays out anyway, and this game the USA is not a big enough player in it to NOT be in it, and I can't see the resistance holding more than another 10 years. But yeah 5 years maybe too optimistic. Bitcoin has many battles ahead of it until then. But I think it's roots are too deep to fail ultimately.