Steem and Lenses of Perception: Opportunities or Obstacles?

How do you view the world?

Let's for a moment assume that you do have a pretty decent grip on reality and aren't just "tilting at windmills" or living in a deep dark hole of depression... how do you approach the world?

When one of life's inevitable challenges comes along... do you perceive it as a potentially fruitful opportunity to create something better; something more beneficial? Or do you see a potentially disappointing obstacle that needs to be removed or even avoided?

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Flowers in the sun...

How we think about things and approach them tends to have a significant impact on the outcome of the situations we face.

Yesterday, I was once again helping our friend who has cancer mind her shop, and noticed a small piece of paper on the community notice board in the back room... an old truism, attributed to Henry Ford:

"Whether you think you CAN, or you think you CAN'T, you're right"

Although we often tend to dismiss statements like that for any number of reasons, they are usually based in a deeper truth.

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Standing stones in a forest glade...

Experiences... and How We See Things

But this only addresses the surface part of my question, because whereas we might be naturally inclined towards optimism or pessimism, there's little doubt that the outcomes of our past experiences also shape the way we approach the world.

In other words, optimism and a positive outlook can only take you so far. Or — as Mrs. Denmarkguy once remarked — "A nuclear device in the kitchen doesn't STOP being a nuclear device just because you paint flowers on it!"

And so, we end up at the issue of how easily do we "learn" from our experiences, both positive and negative? And which have a greater impact in shaping out ongoing attitudes?

Some children only need to burn their hand on the hot stove once, and they will be forever careful, while others will continue burning themselves as children and into adulthood.

Personally, I have always learned very quickly, meaning that I tend to completely avoid things that have "gone badly" more than a couple of times.

But is it really that cut and dry?

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Towards the far horizon...

Experience can Also Be Wisdom...

So I am sitting here, considering our community here in Steemlandia, and the large number of projects, hopes and dreams we have here.

It's a nice example, because we have the entire range of "voices" here, from enthusiastic flag wavers who feel certain that Steem is all that and it's only a matter of a short time before everything here will become amazing and the Steem token will head to the Moon.

At the other end of the scale, we have the perpetual nay-sayers who might go as far as to suggest that this is little more than a veritable Ponzi scheme that'll soon fall apart, and the Steem token will be worth less than a Dogecoin.

Getting back to the point at hand... the question of whether the depressed state of Steem is perceived as an OPPORTUNITY or a SIGN OF INEVITABLE DEMISE inevitably arises.

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The intricate web of life...

Food for Thought...

To throw a few stale sayings on the table, "history tends to repeat itself" and sometimes "we can't see the forest for the trees."

When I examine this "beast" of ours, I don't care whether "it's on the blockchain," and I don't care whether "there's a cryptocurrency" and I don't care whether "there's no COMPANY that's going to cause it to go bankrupt"... I am trying to reconcile and stare down a completely different reality:

99% of all web content has no financial/fiscal/monetary value!

I can hear the voices here who exclaim "Yes, but this has never been done before! We are establishing a new paradigm!"

I have no argument with that!

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A thorny question....

HOWEVER, I am (still) having my reservations about something that feels like (bad metaphor alert!) a declaration that snowballs on the North Pole are suddenly "worth" a dollar apiece where they have always been both plentiful and FREE.

And so, we get back to Mrs. Denmarkguy's observation about painting flowers on a nuclear device: Just because someone decides that we all "should be paid" for what we create doesn't magically give it value.

There has to be something there.

Otherwise we're — pretty much — just selling air. And hence my periodic rantings about whether content is not so much quality, but does it add VALUE?

Because if it doesn't, we might need to examine the very real possibility that the pervasive decline in value around here is simply the result of a wiser greater world valuing the reality of what is here, rather than the pipe dreams inside some people's heads...

Thanks for reading!

(Another #creativecoin creative non-fiction post)

Comments, feedback and other interaction is invited and welcomed! Because — after all — SOCIAL content is about interacting, right? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!

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(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for this platform.)
Created at 20200110 10:53 PST

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That is so true. Who give it the value anyway? I have to admit that I came here not for the draw of the dollar, but, it seemed like a very interactive platform of personalities.

The minute it was possible to make big money on here, once upon a time, the system was abused and broke, sending many away. Now there seems to be no value left, but, there is still some fun to be had.

Will it go back up? It would be nice as it attracts more people. But, if it doesn't, they can't take my fun away.

You are always a joy to read!

!tip

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(Edited)

I think we need to separate the blogging from the crypto. There are lots of cryptos which do nothing at the moment and have value. due to perceived scarcity. Eventually the controlling powers here will accelerate the reduction in inflation and posts wont be rewarded with a lot of steem however we will have proved out a robust functioning blockchain to out-compete the others and build real commerce upon it. Some of the communities will survive and reward in their own coin with advertising driven demand for that coin (which is real and drives most of the internet). Distribution wont be even and the few people producing relevant new content that does have some value will get most of the reward (just has they have most of the followers on traditional social media) . I agree the idea that blogging something about your breakfast deserves to be paid for is ludicrous. But those that did prior to the great reduction in steem inflation which is inevitable (just a question of when) will be grateful that they partook in the experiment.

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