Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It’s a very mean and nasty place and I don’t care how tough you are it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. - Rocky
Dear Bitcoiner, dear Shitcoiner, dear Nocoiner
Since my time in the Bitcoin rabbit hole I come from time to time across people who surprise me very much. They have been dealing with Bitcoin for many years, a whole year or even longer. They dive into the deepest corridors of mathematics, physics, the wonderful world of programming, economics and phylosophy in Bitcoin. They often understand more about these topics than I ever could. They have accepted, learned to love and hate a discovery/invention that at its core was created to disadvantage and exclude nothing and no one.
And yet, in my perception, it is these smart minds that are often the most "wacky" minds. In a world where we all tolerate that everyone can be a part of this world, it just seems too ridiculous to hate others.
I would like to use a very simple and already very detailed topic as an example. And I'm sure the first Bitcoiner will now roll his eyes, stop reading and write the first critical comment or close the page. But let me give it a shot.
The "Bitcoin – Magazine"
This company offers an app in which the user is paid with sats for reading/scrolling an article. First of all: I am aware that by installing the app data is collected, I am aware that as a "free user", you are the "product".
Let's take a look at the user groups of this app:
  • BTC Magazine is considered a reliable source: articles are read in good faith
  • BTC Magazine is considered a partially reliable source: articles are read and critically received
  • BTC Magazine is considered an unreliable source: articles are only scrolled, the "free" sats are stacked
  • BTC Magazine is considered immoral: app is not used
To which of these very roughly named groups you count yourself, you are welcome to write in the comments.
A chunky comparison
Imagine that every morning you spend a few minutes sitting at your window, watching what's happening on the sidewalk and enjoying your tea or coffee.
Every morning you see your neighbor Jim step out of his house on his way to work and walk past your window. Every morning he meets a newspaper guy who shouts his stories, the craziest stories ever, to your neighbor Jim. Jim listens to these shouts each time and then gets a coin tossed to him by the newspaper vendor as he walks by. Jim is happy to receive the coin, smiles at the crazy stories the newspaper guy tells, and continues on his way to work. The newsman knows where Jim lives; he sees him coming out the door every morning. He knows Jim has a job, he knows Jim is married with two kids. Is that the price of the coin? I don't know.
Every morning you observe this and are annoyed. Your tea or coffee suddenly tastes bitter. How is it that the newspaper guy is allowed to tell his crazy stories and Jim even smiles, how is it that Jim accepts the coin, is he so stupid and believes these stories?
The only "loser" in this story is the one who ends up angry.
My wish
When you feel angry at something you don't want to or can't believe, acknowledge or understand, just close the window. Close the window and be happy about what makes you excited. There will always be someone or something that makes you angry. The question is, is this anger necessary?
No! Don't ignore your anger. The question is not why the anger is necessary. If you are angry, respect yourself enough to listen. Punch a wall! Go in your car and scream!
But do not try to express your anger in writing. It doesn't work. We're just apes. The part of you that's angry only sees you clicking on some square thing. Thats as bad as ignoring the anger. Would you ignore an upset friend? What happens if you do that?
If you're constantly feeling strong emotions and don't want that, then just listen to them.
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Yes. Anger is a signal. But what is a signal of? Most people have virtually no idea. It's so easy to be a puppet of your own emotions.
Anger is an invitation to understand the world better, understand yourself better. Writing angry reactionary screeds is a tragic misuse of the signal.
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Tragic in the deepest sense of the word
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Have your anger, shout it out, but don't hold it against others. The freedom to be angry includes the freedom not to be angry.
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How do we think? If that's a question that's ever crossed your mind, then congratulations, you've spent at least some time delving into "meta-cognition" or thinking about thinking.
In metal gear, we get a taste of meta cognition, we're put through a meat grinder of it. Its put in a way that causes mental pain:
"You exercise your 'freedom' and this is the result. All rhetoric to avoid conflict and protect each other from hurt."
I can tell you right now Bitcoin magazine is not a reliable source. I have already proven that by trying to verify claims they've made. When Bitcoin Magazine posts, I ask for the source. The first party source, not third party reporting. None of that matters though when articles aren't about facts in the first place. The articles that we really get annoyed with provide no facts at all.
How do we think? In order to think, we first have to have information. We can then think on that information. What does that involve? Comparing it against other information we already have. What if we don't have any other information on a topic? Then we have no way to dispute the information we have. What if then we do find information that conflicts with what we've learned? Then we fight to protect what we think we know no matter how wrong we might be.
If I don't have an emotional attachment to information I have, I might start to think on that information around the context of my life and think about how that information might apply. The problem is, thinking is hard. It saves me so much energy when the context for that information is provided for me and suddenly I don't feel the need to think about my own context for the information provided to me.
If you don't believe that at all, then you should research how ads work.
"How ads manipulate us - and how to resist | BBC Ideas" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5WfzyR7Zzk
In fact understanding how ads work will help you entirely all by itself to understand where I'm coming from. Bitcoin Magazine is an advertising platform with the express goal to sell a very specific monetization strategy.
I wrote an article months ago now about exactly how Shitcoin Magazine is a wolf in poorly crafted sheep's clothes: #214720
Now if I know from seeing time and time again and pushing back time and time again, and getting hit back with justifications instead of any sign of self reflection from Shitcoin Magazine that they are trying to push scams onto users and change culture to allow them to more easily push scams onto users, should I not be warning them against that? Does it really feel right to advertise on Shitcoin Magazine's behalf to get other people to read through their advertisements of exit event schemes?
Its not a philosophical question to me. Its a deep burning call to action.
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Thanks for this great answer. But I would like to take the idea away from Bitcoin Magazine again. You are absolutely right, if something is visibly bad for others, you should warn. That's why I don't criticize anyone who sees this company as immoral. It's the anger that makes me sad.
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What about the NFTs, Ordinals and the conference they held that several "Bitcoiners" boycotted as shitcoin conference ?
Imagine selling a nft for 1.25 BTC. They are also supporting Ordinals which is just a pure shitcoinery.
Oh yeah if i was attending the so called BITCOIN CONFERENCE and i saw these "wizards" dressed in weird costume & promoting shitcoinery on Bitcoin i would be disappointed & mad asf. Who allowed them in the first place ?
How could you justify such shitcoinery like this ? They are not even contributing much to LN/BTC development ( i can still tolerate Taproot Asset by LL )
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How could you justify such shitcoinery like this ?
Everyone learns at their own pace
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Topic not understood, but thanks for your contribution anyway
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I just replied to what I quoted
Maybe you didn't understand this? :)
As I mentioned: everyone learns at their own pace
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The topic is basically not the bitcoin magazine app here and its pros or cons, but i still thank you for your participation in the conversation. I take that as your classification in the latter named group :D
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