This is an opinion piece. With Heidi Porter, an entrepreneur 35 years in the tech industry.
I love Bitcoin — and the world it helps create — as do any of the most passionate Bitcoiners. As such, I want to do and say things that help her succeed. This desire is not unusual.
However, sometimes what doesn’t felt result, Is productive
Constructive criticism Is Productive conversations for Bitcoin. Identifying false assumptions Is Productive conversations for Bitcoin. Calculation of risks Is Productive conversations for Bitcoin. Calling out the hypocrisy of motives vs actions Is (or maybe) productive conversation.
That said, there is illogical or nonsensical criticism. no productive conversation. Criticizing because you didn’t do the work to understand. no productive conversation. Appealing to authority or intuition as opposed to well-researched information. no productive conversation. There is a refusal to understand different use cases for different people. no productive conversation.
I think most people would agree with the above in theory. But then, we’re human. Our wants, needs and emotions get in the way.
There is criticism. do not feel good Criticism—regardless of merit—feels good. There is immediate or short-term gratification. felt good These are part and parcel of the privileges in the business of being human.
The result is that the noise is amplified and the signal is deamplified. The result is that the wisest and most prophetic people in Bitcoin are often dismissed or ignored. or shot. This shoot-the-messenger attitude is not tied to price.
The apostles are shot in the bull market. In a bear market, messengers are shot. Messengers are shot in markets. Messengers are just… shot.
The bulletproof ones know who they are. They repeat themselves over and over again. Let’s repeat and review just a few of these messages:
- If you want bitcoin to be for people’s security as well as freedom and human rights, don’t post public photos without people’s consent.
- If you want people to be physically safe using Bitcoin, stop sharing information with third-party marketing firms that don’t meet the security requirements for Bitcoin users. At a minimum, separate customer emails are required for use in marketing systems versus account access or downloads.
- If you want decentralization of miners around the world, stop overemphasizing mining in your city, your company, and your country.
- If you want privacy, don’t scream that something offers complete privacy when it’s not completely true.
- If your organization’s stated mission is “defending civil liberties in a digital world,” you should speak up. When a bill is introduced that applies to all of them.. seeing you Electronic Frontier Foundation.
- If you want people to use money properly, don’t tell them to run up credit cards or mortgage their houses and put all their money into Bitcoin and HODL.
- If you want a peaceful revolution, definitely don’t suggest that Bitcoin is akin to weapons.
- If you want people to understand Bitcoin, don’t create unreasonable equations to explain it. In a recent Bitcoin Magazine articleStephen Leura wrote about the exact same problem.
- (Dear reader, insert other similar if-then points here.)
If you don’t think any of the above is that important, steel the counter argument to the one above. With the possible exception of the last, all of the above are real threats to both the physical safety and security of people. All points are part and parcel of what people are claiming to be the goals of Bitcoin itself.
Human motivations are often driven by short-term or immediate gratification rather than looking at long-term results or outcomes. Addressing the above issues as well as other technical and business concerns that have been raised and need to be addressed requires a modest research, hard work and conversational effort.
For 2023, let’s not shoot consequentialist messages. or His Messenger Instead, let’s all take a hard look at our own short-term incentives and gratifications — and better align them with the goals we want for Bitcoin…
..to make a happy year not just for a few but for more.
This is a guest post by Heidi Porter. The opinions expressed are solely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
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