@ek is a certified pleb, I can confirm. He recently visited Pleb Lab and I got to ask him a few questions. Being familiar with Ek’s posts, I knew that I could simply walk up and start talking with him. So that’s exactly what happened, in fact, I think this rescued him a little bit. Immediately I felt that we were friends. A SN —> meat space crossover success!
in this report:
who is EK, the pleb
first jobs
thoughts on tech
SN theories/ideas
Pp How old were you when you got into bitcoin?
Ek 21.
Pp When I think of a pleb, I think it’s someone whose curiosity about bitcoin changed the course of their life. Is it true for you?
Ek So true, it’s actually scary knowing that something can change your life so hard. My previous life, my life before bitcoin, I feel like I can’t go back. There’s no way I could be that person again.
Pp Do you miss the person that you were before?
Ek Yeah, I mean, I miss the feeling of not thinking so much about all this pleb stuff. I know I can’t reverse how I see the world, but I don’t like that it matters so much. It’s now like a wall between me and other people. I miss not having that wall.
Pp Have you ever had a “normal” job?
Ek I delivered newspapers when I was in school.
Pp Did you ride a bike?
Ek No, it wasn’t like in the movies. I just walked. Sometimes, the hardest part was finding the mailbox for the house. I also worked in Burger King as cashier.
Pp Was it cool?
Ek It’s cool to think about, but not cool at the time. (Ek tells a story about a man who became aggressive with him during his shift at Bk.) I was a mailman later. Being a mailman is cool because you build a relationship with people. They ask, “What is it today?” or they’re happy that you brought them what they were waiting for. There was a cat I always stepped over on someone’s stairs. I began to meow at her, and she meowed back. So we had an understanding after that.
Ek Technology makes us do less.
Pp Do you fear it?
Ek I see two kinds of people, someone who is really into tech and wants it everywhere, even in their refrigerator. And the other is more like a pleb, a little intimidated by it, but learning it to leverage it.
Pp Do you think Jack Dorsey is on SN?
Ek No.
Pp Confirmed?
Ek Not confirmed. I think he’s too busy and SN is too under the radar.
Pp But will it always stay under the radar?
Ek That’s the question.
Pp What’s something that never gets talked about on SN that you wish would?
Ek I like the surprising, interesting, doesn’t have to be controversial but usually is. Outliers. But I think it’s the relationship between k00b and the stackers. He should be seen as just another stacker. He seems to be often close to the top, but do people zap him because he’s the founder? Because they think “whatever he says must be great.” Sometimes it feels biased, but he posts good stuff.
Pp Ah that’s true. If you create the thing, you must be a good user of the thing.
Thanks for reading. Things got real in this one. What did you think?
A real pleasure to meet you @ek.
Footnotes