The new world and its toxins

in #transparency8 years ago (edited)

Since the beginning Steemit has been referred to as a social experiment and a truly marvelous one it is.

It would be interesting to hear if the team knew, at the time of creating steemit, of all of the groundbreaking social experiment aspects they would be inviting their future users to take part in.

For instance, the intriguing interactions that emerge, due to visibility of everything, because of the transparency of the underlying block chain.

In other blockchain applications the level of interaction is less than with a social media platform driven by a blockchain.

This is both a blessing and a curse.

Some people are not used to having this quantity or type of information at their fingertips. Or societies are typically not used to this level of transparency.

This produces very interesting dynamics. Because we can see more, our thinking is exercised more and in new ways. Some people see something that surprises them and this may result in a whole new set of reactions.

With this new type of information available it is now necessary for us to apply our minds more acutely and research with a lot more depth to prevent ourselves from drawing the wrong conclusions.

Skimming the surface is no longer sufficient

In this new society we need to check or social baggage at the door, we need to learn a new culture, one of patience and reservation of judgement. We need to take the time to figure out how things work in this new highly transparent world of steemit. This requires a little humility, a realization that we don’t know and understand everything immediately in this new world, we need to check our pride at the door.

Suddenly, because everything is so transparent, we think we know a person and it takes a lot not to hastily judge the differences that are now so plainly manifest.

To add to the complexity of this social experiment is the fact that it has a global reach. This also introduces a potential clash of cultures and ideals. What may be acceptable in one culture and are of the world may be completely unacceptable in another.

Transparency also leads to being able to see many more aspect of our interactions than we are conditioned to handle at up till now. Now we can see thing like wallet contents, (online) net worth, powering down status etc.

These are usually quite alien to us and take some getting used to.

With this level of transparency it is very easy to fall into the trap of comparative ailments. It is human nature to compare, but that brings with it additional challenges.

As we compare we may find that, what we have, is somehow perceived as of less worth than others. This can lead to hurt feeling, which if entertained lead to resentment, jealousy, envy and other related ills.

If somehow we rate what we have as greater than those around us, then the opposite feeling can lead to pride and disdain for “our lessers”.

Neither of these situations is particularity fruitful and the withered fruit that is produced ranges in bitterness to the point of being downright poisonous if indulged in long-term.

We need to step back and adopt a different approach if or strategy is to have any staying power in the new steemit world.

We need to accept that we don't understand everything. We need to become passive and patient observers till we have had sufficient time to understand these new situations we find ourselves in.

And above all.

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Some of the problems are down to people coming in from a cryptocurrency subculture that is obsessed with privacy. Bitcon in was sold on the basis that it was pseudonymous, and some users have gravitated to Monero because they want even more privacy that bitcoin provides.

But on steemit, there is no privacy. Because of all the introductory posts and the personal stuff revealed in articles, including where they live and photographs of themselves, all of which are attached to a wallet that is publicaly viewable, people's whole life is on display here, including their money.

It's not only the opposite of what bitcoin is doing, it's way more transparent than the fiat system. That's a culture shock to people.

I must admit, witnessing the angst about high payouts etc, I understood for the first time why businesses insist that employees keep their salaries secret...

Yea, we are in uncharted waters here...

Very interesting article. It reminds me actually of one of my favorite quotes from Max Ehrmann - Desiderata of Happiness " .. If you compare yourself with others, you may become vain or bitter, for always there will be greater and lesser persons than yourself."

my favorite.

Yes this transparency offers a lot of new insights. I learn every day. It is a world of instant feedback. On the other tax departments around will also be able to use this transparency as well as all the lawyers for cooyright infringements.

Thanks for sharing this to us. Nice post :)

very interesting point of view, i'm learning about this platform.

Thank You ,very informative,