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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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 :)