1458 sats \ 9 replies \ @nullcount 6 Jul \ on: What deters people from Bitcoin is their unwillingness to embrace uncertainty bitcoin
What deters people from embracing uncertainty is a lack of personal responsibility.
People without personal responsibility are quick to blame external factors that they cannot control for the cause of their suffering. They blame the economy/the president/the immigrants/the fiat money system, etc. for their problems.
When asked what would help them right now, they'll describe actions others should take: president should lower inflation/interest rates, the gov should issue more stimulus/welfare, the corporations should lower prices and pay workers more, people should adopt a BTC standard, etc.
Someone with high personal responsibility is more likely to focus on what they can control. They accept that they alone are to blame/credit for their situation. They are more likely to bet on themselves and embrace uncertainty because they are aware of their own power and limitations and have faith in their ability to navigate uncertainty.
Since you're both right, what's the path forward?
People are not going to fundamentally change and bitcoin is going to remain more seemingly uncertain than the major currencies.
One option is to focus adoption efforts in places with extremely high local uncertainty. The more bitcoin is used in such places, the less uncertainty it will contain globally.
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Why so focused on adoption? This seems like something a person with low personal responsibility would want: "my bags need to go up and it requires the actions of other people to make it happen"
Just be a humble hodler, you don't have to convince everyone that a flood is coming. Just build your ship so that when it starts to rain, there's room for anyone you care about to come aboard.
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Why so focused on adoption?
Adoption means more merchants accepting bitcoin. Not how many hodlers are pumping their bags for NgU.
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It's not only about whether merchants accept it, but also what they do with it: immediately sell it for fiat or hold the sats. The latter reinforces the NGU feedback loop, and the former, which shirks the SoV aspect, arguably isn't complete adoption as money.
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It's not just about wanting your stack pumped.
Adoption also means having a better money, and therefore higher productivity and a higher standard of living for the population.
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Since I'm not a narcissist, I have concern for the victims of fiat all over the world. That's why I care about adoption. I don't give a shit about number go up.
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There can be virtues in Selfishness. Just like there can be negative effects (even if unintended) by being a "selfless" missionary.
For example:
Short-term Focus - Maybe you convince someone to buy BTC, but without long-term support, that person who was easy to persuade, may be just as easily persuaded to gamble on shitcoins. Its possible that person would have been better off if they focused on their career instead of being coaxed into becoming an amateur "investor".
Ethnocentrism - Bitcoiners tend to believe they have it all figured out. This can lead to a certain arrogance or "know-it-all" attitude as they have encounters with curious no-coiners. This attitude can cause resentment or tension to build that actually pushes people away from Bitcoin.
Psychological Impact - Not all are ready to fall down the rabbit hole. Many bitcoiners tend to have radical changes in political/social/cultural views after taking the orange pill. It can lead to estranged or divisive relationships between friends/family. Many people want to stay ignorant of the world's issues so they can focus on work and relationships instead of spending all day discussing geopolitics and macro on internet forums.
Lately, it is my belief that few are able to achieve strong personal responsibility. Those that do tend to be the ones who govern or employ the rest of the population who just want stable incomes and a carefree existence.
Some religions have a strong emphasis on missions, others have emphasis on a personal relationship with the divine. There's no right way IMO, but it can be helpful to identify the virtues and vices with each approach.
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I think I agreed with all of that. It doesn't imply I shouldn't be concerned with the past path towards getting people out of fiat. Those are concerns that need to be accounted for.
It's perfectly fine with me if people are just in bitcoin for themselves. That's how I think it needs be pitched. That's just not why I'm into it.
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this a million times over.
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