Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths in subculture evolution \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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Geeks, MOPs, and sociopaths in subculture evolution meaningness.com/geeks-mops-sociopaths

104 sats \ 2 comments \ @k00b 24 Jan 2022 bitcoin

I came across this and as is so often the case, smarter minds had already posted it on SN.

Interesting article, though. I'm not sure how much I buy it. I generally dislike the view that "true" artists are all good and pure and it's the suits who come in and ruin everything. Maybe I haven't seen enough of the world yet and am still blissful in my ignorance.

On the other hand, a lot of the descriptions ring true:

Creators and fanatics are both geeks. They totally love the New Thing, they’re fascinated with all its esoteric ins and outs, and they spend all available time either doing it or talking about it.

This sounds about right.

Geeks welcome mops, at first at least. It’s the mass of mops who turn a scene into a subculture. Creation is always at least partly an act of generosity; creators want as many people to use and enjoy their creations as possible. It’s also good for the ego; it confirms that the New Thing really is exciting, and not just a geek obsession.

This also sounds right.

Maybe the part I dislike is that I'm not sure that it's always the sociopaths that ruin things. Maybe it's sometimes just the weight of the mops or the infighting of the geeks.

Whatever the case, the ending really resonated:

“Slightly evil” defense of a subculture requires realism: letting go of eternalist hope and faith in imaginary guarantees that the New Thing will triumph. Such realism is characteristic of nihilism. Nihilism has its own delusions, though. It is worth trying to create beautiful, useful New Things—and worth defending them against nihilism. A fully realistic worldview corrects both eternalistic and nihilistic errors.

Does sound a bit like an attitude that Bitcoin could use right about now.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @247bf84fda 25 Aug freebie

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