Portrait Of The Hodler As A Young Stoner

If you were an American teenager in the 1970s, you couldn't avoid being exposed to a lot of half baked spiritualism served up with a healthy(?) dose of hallucinogens, and I was no exception. In addition to Carlos Castaneda novels and The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test by Tom Wolfe, most of us wound up reading Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M Pirsig. The book captured the mood of the time: We all wanted to get high and live out our Kerouac On the Road fantasies, and the self sufficient minimalism was perfect for our post Easy Rider lifestyle. That was my introduction to Buddhism.
Now, I must say I don't consider myself a card carrying Buddhist. But let's face it. A real Buddhist would never carry a card. The point is, in the end I absorbed a few truths from guys like Pirsig.
I'm sure you're wondering what the hell this has to do with Bitcoin in general, and Stacker News in particular.
Well, let me try to explain...

I Wanna Be A Whale, Now!!

I have seen many posts by beginners asking for advice on how to earn sats on this site. Some are blunt pleas, and others try to finesse it in an attempt not to appear too greedy. You might as well be honest. You want us all to throw thousands of sats at you, and preferably very quickly. Well, forget it. That ain't gonna happen. Nor should it. And that's a good thing, whether you know it yet or not.
But, I will try to help you have a long, rewarding experience here.

Just Who The Hell Do I Think I Am?

Some may wonder what makes me think I have the knowledge needed to tell anyone how to stack sats here. It's true that I'm still learning, and it's not like I'm getting rich spending what is probably way too much time wandering around this site, but I think I can help newcomers avoid my mistakes and explain what seems to work for me, an average SN stacker.

Who Can Benefit From This Article?

If you're the guy who bought 10,000 bitcoin at 8 cents each in 2010, and managed not to sell them during the many pumps of the early years, and you didn't lose your keys, and didn't get wiped out during the Mt Gox mess, and you resisted a shitcoin siren call in 2016, and you still have your stack, just stop reading. I have nothing to teach you. You are the master. I am your humble student.
And, I hate you. Go fuck yourself.
(*Jealousy and hate are not the Way of the Buddha. I am imperfect)
However, if you're new to bitcoin and just learning, Welcome!
So, what I took from my brush with Buddhism is basically to learn as much as you can about a topic, absorb it from all angles, and then forget about it when it's time to act. When you know enough, conscious thought gets in the way.
Once you are prepared, you just do. You don't think about doing.
You start by learning.

"A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent upon arriving." – Tao Te Ching, Chapter 27

Take a breath. Explore. Read through the FAQ and Guide that you can find at the bottom of the page. Spend some time poking around the site. You will discover that there are many types of people here: beginners like yourself, people like me who have been around bitcoin for a few years but are still learning, some OG hodlers from back in the day, some bitcoin celebrities, some bitcoin core guys, and many really smart, 20 or 30 something year old coders and developers who work in the bitcoin ecosystem and are doing some amazing things. You can learn from everyone. And you should.
Alas, no one is going to throw lots of sats at you when you first get here, and, in all likelihood not for a long time.

First Steps

After getting familiar with the layout and reading some content, the next thing you should do is create an account. Choose your nym. Most people here protect their privacy, and you should too when choosing a nym, unless you want to be identified. Next, create your bio. I think this is important, since it's your opportunity to introduce yourself and tell us why you're here. By providing information in the bio you might interact with other users who have things in common with you. It's important to develop relationships with people to share advice, experiences, etc.
Keep in mind that publishing your bio is making your first post. It's free. Take advantage of it. I don't recommend short bios. The more you say about yourself, the greater the likelihood that someone will find something interesting to talk to you about. You might even get a welcome tip of a few sats.

A Word Of Caution

One caveat : This is a bitcoin site. The site is filled with bitcoin maxis. If you're at the stage where you're experimenting with other coins, or if you think there is a place for sh... um, alt coins in this world, you are entitled to your beliefs. You will find your people here too, eventually. Mentioning it in your bio, though, might not be the best move. You can bring it up later. If you ignore my advice, at best you will be ignored. At worst, you shall suffer the wrath of DarthCoin. Good luck, brave one. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger! (I don't buy that. If you live but lose a leg? Or suffer serious head trauma? Never mind)

So What About The Zen Thing?

I know it took me a while, but now we'll get down to the zen. You have a few sats from your bio post and maybe from your free second post and a few more from your five free comments. Now what?
Well. Why are you here? I hope it's because you have become obsessed with bitcoin, and you need to know more. Not want, but need. You may have gotten interested due to greed. That's understandable. Most of us did. I first got interested during the 2017 pump. Am I rich now? No. Do I have a Lambo? No. But guess what? I don't want a Lambo any more. It's meaningless to me now. I own a 20 year old Toyota. Is that all I can afford? No. I could buy a nicer car, but I'd rather stack sats.
Soon you won't care either. First, you'll learn about low time preference. Later, you'll understand what that really means.
You will stop caring about the fancy house and the car. Soon, you'll be thinking more about the mother in some poor African country trying to feed her family. Without a bank account. With decaying fiat money. You start feeling all those We Are All One vibes from bad 1970's Coca Cola commercials. Except now you know it's true.
You start donating to Alex Gladstein and Anita Posch.
But I digress. Back to business:

“To receive everything, one must open one’s hands and give.” ― Taisen Deshimaru

I advise you to pretend you can't earn sats. But remember you can give sats. I would start by reading the recent posts. When you find an interesting one, tip the poster some sats. Make this a regular practice. Don't worry about making your own posts yet. By doing this, you will be learning about bitcoin. You will be supporting people who post stuff you find interesting, AND you will start earning sats. How? Well, the way SN works, you get sats for tipping top content early. Odds are, you will tip a few posts that become popular. If you liked it, others will likely like it too. By reading recent posts, you can discover good content early and earn more sats. As you learn more about bitcoin, you will be more discerning, and will tip top content early more consistently. You learn, then earn.
You will start building trust. What's that, you ask? Well Keyan Kousha, our leader and guru, is one of those wiz coders and developers I talked about earlier. He created some kind of fancy algorithm that increases your status here based on the quality of your tipping and posting. The higher your trust score, the more sats you can earn. How does it work? I have no clue. Ask him.
As your knowledge grows, start commenting on other people's posts. Ask questions. At the beginning you will have a lot of questions. Ask them. You may get lucky and one of your questions might become a top comment that earns you sats. Or maybe not. Who cares? It's very likely someone will answer your question, and you will learn.
Soon, you discover the zen of this whole thing: The less you try to earn sats, the more sats you'll earn. I discovered this the hard way myself. Early on, I would think about what posts would likely earn me sats. I would put some thought into the post, carefully craft it, and post it. Then I'd sit back and wait for my sats. Crickets. Nothing. My post would get ignored. Then, later I'd read a post and respond with a quick comment or question, pretty much spontaneously and without expectations, and I'd earn a few hundred sats. I was dumbfounded. Then it dawned on me. Genuine, real posts mattered. Honesty, like bitcoin itself, is what counts. Contrived crap, like a shitcoin, is ignored.
I think that's why ChatGPT posts are usually ignored. The writing quality might be higher than what we post, with better grammar and syntax, and perfect spelling. But, it seems fake and lifeless. I can't always put my finger on what's wrong with it, but I don't like it.

If You Build It, They Will Come

Soon you will start posting. Maybe a few links here and there. Avoid posting dupes! Also, try to keep it interesting. Everyone has seen yesterday's Bitcoin Magazine, Coin Desk, or Cointelegraph article. Don't post it again. Post what you like to read. Don't worry if it's a little off topic, so long as it's thought provoking. Of course, others may not agree. Your post might get ignored. So what? You're still learning.
You can use a little creativity for your link posts. The title can be edited. In fact, sometimes you must edit the title for length. Experiment. Make a funny headline. Maybe the mainstream media source sugar coated the content in the headline. Write what the article really means. By doing this, you bring value to a simple link post.
Next, you will create discussion posts. At first you might ask questions about something you don't understand. You can be pretty sure you'll get answers. If it's a complicated issue, you may inspire arguments and discussion. Your simple question could turn into a significant post, with lots of sats and a daily bonus. That will happen, just not when you expect it.
As you get more comfortable here, be generous. Tip new bio posts so that user has the sats to post right away, without having to fund his or her wallet. Tip new accounts who put some effort into crafting a post, whether or not it's great. You've been there. You're not so removed from being a beginner yourself. And spread the wealth. You want to help increase adoption, right? You want to promote value for value, right? Circular economy? Start right here.
In the meantime, keep learning. Run a node, try to set up a nostr relay. Listen to podcasts night and day. And read. Read every damn bitcoin book you can find. Watch old Andreas Antonopoulos lectures on YouTube. Go on Gigi's web site and read everything he's ever written. Soak up as much information about bitcoin as you can.
And always talk about it on Stacker News. You will help others on the journey. Soon the sats will be rolling in, but you won't be thinking about it. You will be too busy learning more.
Sharing this on Nostr Siggy, great work as usual
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Thanks!
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@k00b can we have this post pinned somehow? For new stackers to read it. Excellent piece!
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Thanks @DarthCoin. And to think I was ducking a little and taking cover!
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😂😂😂😂😂
ducking a little and taking cover!
Why? My wrath is only for shitcoiners, banksters and gov agents. Your post explain it perfectly how things should be on SN. I really hope more new stackers will take it in consideration and follow all points you presented here.
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Zen And The Art of Motorcycle Maintenance had been on my to-read list for a while, but I have still not gotten to it yet. I need to make it an effort to get to it before the end of this year.
To a certain extent, I think "not focusing on making money actually makes more money" applies to businesses and careers in general. I always believe that if you're too concerned about making money, your mind will not be able to focus on making the best decisions or doing your best in a business or a career. Focus on doing something that provides value for others, do the best you can at it, and the money will naturally come.
Another things is, when I read this:
So, what I took from my brush with Buddhism is basically to learn as much as you can about a topic, absorb it from all angles, and then forget about it when it's time to act. When you know enough, conscious thought gets in the way.
It reminded me of Jin Yong's novel The Heaven Sword and Dragon Saber when Zhang Sanfeng invented Tai Chi and taught it to Zhang Wuji, Sanfeng asked Wuji to forget all the moves after Wuji learned and memorized it all. Sanfeng told Wuji that "The essence of Tai Chi is in its sense, not in its moves. When you have forgotten all the Tai Chi moves, you will have mastered the Tai Chi style." I'm not sure if that's the Buddist way or the Taoist way; maybe it's simply the way to mastery, that when you become a master, you can just act according to the situation without having to think about it.
Thanks for the great post.
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Thanks for the kind words. It's been so long since I read it. I play guitar, and I read Zen Guitar by Philip Toshio Sudo, and it brought it all back to me. Another one is Zen in the Art of Archery. Also very good.
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Great post. I love seeing actual posts here, not just links to some boring article on a website with a thousand, distracting, little adverts. I don't want to leave this beautifully and simplistically designed site when I'm here. It's perfect. Once the sub-stacks catch on I'll probably never leave.
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@CarlBMenger has posted some great articles here. Have you seen them?
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I guess that all depends on the design of the website/my interest in the topic. Doesn't ring a bell, off hand. Can you link me to one?
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My mistake. I guess Carl originally posts to substack. He still has some great articles. Here's one: #161607
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Thank you.
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Excellent writing thank you Rich
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Thank you
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Well done, this was all very inspiring!
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Great post - thank you!
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damn, i think i need to order this zen book you read
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It's a good one.
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Very good post, I agree with your thoughts. I really like SN. It's a very cozy place where I really learn a lot of useful information or can share my experiences.
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I love the idea that there should be both a cost and a benefit to participating in "the internets", but I'd imagine that for most people here, SN is not the most time-efficient way to stack sats. I'd stack way more if I closed the tab and got my ass back to work and used my fiat salary to buy sats. The main benefit to being here is to learn from other members of a like-minded community, and hopefully help build a future where the incentive structure of participating in the internet does not tear society to shreds as a side effect.
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I can't disagree with anything you said. This is not a cost efficient place to earn sats. It is a place to learn and build a community.
My purpose in writing the article was primarily to advise newcomers how to interact with the site. Earning sats is also nice, but you can't make a living here. Yet
I do think that things may change in the future, as the price of bitcoin increases in fiat terms, and each sat can buy you more of what you need to survive. I wonder how SN will look in 5-10 years.
Will it be a place where writers publish their work, rather than just a place to announce and publicize articles posted elsewhere? I don't know.
Can it be a place where people whose fiat currency has devalued to such an extent that a couple of thousand sats can make a difference in their lives? I think we're closer to that point.
I really believe that Stacker News has a great deal of potential.
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Oh I definitely think that the sats we're stacking now will have significant value in the future. As the value of a sat goes up presumably people would tip smaller amounts, so the early adopters have an advantage.
SN definitely has tremendous potential but I think it's only a piece of the puzzle. You can tip here, but it's optional. If I were a professional writer looking to make a living I'd want to have the option of charging per article. Not a revolutionary concept - just take the existing concept of a paywall and make it seamless. Charge per article and not per month. Ideally, I would be able to use the sats I already stacked by participating in SN or a similar site (this concept should totally be expanded to other topics, like gardening, etc) to pay for an article at a bitcoinized version of substack
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Interesting take. I wrote some words on this last week, curious on your thoughts on this - #519955
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I wouldn't mind a gardening sub either. Regarding pay walls, Im curious to know how substack writers do financially. For me, I avoid all media sites with pay walls unless I can 12ft the article. Maybe Im just cheap. I guess it's too early to tell whether value for value is viable.
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History
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Of course shared on nostr, master in orange dadzen :)
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You forgot to mention that sometimes your retroactive posts still earn you sats. Haha
Anyway your trajectory of a SN-er is spot-on. First learnt about low time-preference here, then @Bitman enlightened me about Anita’s work a few days ago
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Jeez! This post has pretty much everything for a young 🦗±.
Sat wisdom, @Darthcoin, Dorothy, @Anita and 70s Kung Fu!
Surely, this should be required reading for antering into the ancient art of stacking.
±Grasshopper, (not a turd)
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You're the first one to identity the Kung Fu reference. That show was a big part of my life. Very good, grasshopper.
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Man/woman±, I'm old enough to have bought the flute because of the original airings.
('cos I did!)
±See other post to get the context - ed
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I got it. I'm old as hell too. Boomer bitcoiners club.
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Great Read… literally read every word
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this is the buddhist approach to stacker news. i loved reading 1/10 of it. i did read zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance and thought it funny, to describe how i saw the book as a desire to lead mechanically minimalistic life , as we comb across terrain. as we search for peace, and try to make money and live a life at the same time.. real buddhist philosophy right there.
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Amazing post for beginners. Just like a foundation course.
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54 sats \ 1 reply \ @TresDMan 1 May
This was an excellent read! Zap more and you will receive more takes on a whole new meaning when it's also written in the code.
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Thanks. That's the core of the SN ethos for me.
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I really enjoyed reading this and learning from you! Thank you :)
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Thanks
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Wow.
SN recommended this good old one. And it's lovely -- thank you, @siggy47!
"Genuine, real posts mattered. Honesty, like bitcoin itself, is what counts. Contrived crap, like a shitcoin, is ignored." <3
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Zen master says….more sats
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Thanks @Coinsreporter for telling me to read this on my bio! @DarthCoin I can’t wait to see your toxic Maxi in the wild. @siggy47 this is a great post.
Don’t try to write things that are funny. Just be yourself and be generous. I still want to learn how this FOSS actually runs tho! I know the code is on GitHub but who runs it??
But it takes both. Developers and users!
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Nice! You’ve pretty much answered all the questions that I’ve had plus confirmed a few thoughts also. 😎🙏
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Thanks. That's my favorite line.
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