This is an opinion editorial by Heidi Porter, an entrepreneur with 35 years in the technology industry.
I love Bitcoin, and the world that Bitcoin helps create, as much as any of the more passionate Bitcoiners. As such, I want to do and say things that will help you succeed. This desire is not one iota unique.
However, sometimes what is not to feel productive, is productive.
constructive criticism is productive speech for Bitcoin. Point out incorrect assumptions is productive speech for Bitcoin. hazard enumeration is productive speech for Bitcoin. Calling out the hypocrisy of goals versus actions is (or can be) productive speech.
That being said, illogical or meaningless criticism is not productive speech. To criticize because you have not done the work of understanding is not productive speech. Appealing to authority or intuition versus well-researched information is not productive speech. Refusing to understand different use cases for different people is not productive speech.
I think most people would agree in theory with the above. But then, we are human. Our wants, needs, and emotions get in the way.
receiving reviews ago not feel well. Giving criticism, regardless of merit, feels good. Immediate or short-term gratification does not to feel well. These are part and parcel of incentives in the business of being human.
The result is that the noise is amplified and the signal is de-amplified. The result is that Bitcoin’s wisest and most prescient people are often dismissed or ignored. Or shot. This shoot the messenger behavior is not correlated with price.
Messengers get shot in the bull market. Messengers get shot in the bear market. Couriers are shot in the side market. The messengers are just… shot.
The riddled ones know who they are. They repeat themselves, repeatedly. Let’s repeat and review just a few of these messages:
- If you want Bitcoin to be for people’s safety as well as freedom and human rights, please don’t post public photos without people’s consent.
- If you want people to be physically safe when using Bitcoin, please stop sharing information with third-party marketing companies that do not meet required security for Bitcoin customers. At a minimum, request separate customer emails to use for marketing systems versus account access or downloads.
- If you want decentralization of miners all over the world, stop pushing for excessive mining in your city, your company, and your country.
- If you want privacy, don’t shout that something offers complete privacy when that’s not completely true.
- If your organization’s stated mission is to “defend civil liberties in the digital world,” then you should speak up when a bill is introduced that bypasses them. Looking at you, Electronic Frontier Foundation.
- If you want people to use money wisely, don’t tell them to blow up credit cards or mortgage their houses to put all their money in bitcoin and HODL.
- If you want a peaceful revolution, definitely don’t suggest that Bitcoin is analogous to guns.
- If you want people to understand Bitcoin, don’t use irrational equivalencies to explain it. In a recent Bitcoin Magazine article, Stephen Livera wrote exactly on this topic.
- (Dear reader, insert other similar if-then points here.)
If you don’t think any of the above is that important, then use the argument against the above. With the possible exception of the last one, all of the above present real threats to both physical and personal safety. All points are an integral part of what the people themselves claim to be the goals of Bitcoin.
Human incentives often operate from immediate or short-term gratification versus a look at long-term consequences or results. It takes some humble research, hard work, and pitch effort to address the above issues, as well as other technical and business concerns that arise and need to be resolved.
By 2023, let’s not trigger productive messages either his messengers. Instead, let’s take a good look at our own short-term incentives and perks, and better align them with the goals we want for Bitcoin…
..to make a happier year for more, not just for a few.
This is a guest post by Heidi Porter. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
