Making Steem Via Pain Or Pleasure

I've been thinking lately about the difference between creating content to get rewarded for it and getting rewarded for content you already create. These may seem the same at times, but the differences are huge, especially regarding expectation, contentment and burnout.

Here on Steem, we get rewarded for our content. There is also incentive to engage, unlike on any other platform prior to this one (that I'm aware of). This kind of setting always has the potential to create a sense of entitlement in people, for which even I have been guilty of sometimes.

The whole reward system has been created through tokenisation - value created apparently out of nowhere. It got me thinking what really gives Steem its value.

I was recently on a stone beach in Dorset and one thing I always marvel at on a beach is how abundant the sand and stones are. Not only the number, but there is an abundance of variety; colour, shape, size, material, e.t.c.

We live in a world of abundance!

One of the many tricks in sales, is to create scarcity. There are many ways of doing this including putting a countdown timer on the price after which the price goes up. The price actually never goes up if you've noticed. It's a sales technique.

Have you noticed that many countries that have famines are situated right next to countries with some of the most fertile agricultural land on earth?.

Scarcity of resources on this planet is mostly artificial. Scarcity of money is also artificial. The truth is, you don't actually really need money to survive, but systems have been put in place to make you dependent on money. That way the prevailing power structure can hold.

The day the poor rural farmer realises his patch of land is infinitely more valuable than a platinum credit card, that power structure will begin to crumble.

---

Content creation and rewards

Consider this. Steem doesn't actually exist!

Steem is a belief system, much like fiat money that is unbacked bay anything. Gold is valuable. Silver is valuable. Land is very valuable. Money isn't. Steem on it's own isn't either. It was created out of thin nothingness. It's kind of a mathematical expression of faith. The value comes into it when others decide to buy into the belief system.

The other thing that gives Steem it's value, is the artificial scarcity imposed on it. If there is an infinite supply of something, it looses value. In some languages, "scarce", "rare", "dear" and "expensive" are the same word. That makes sense.

Time is precious and dear not because time itself is inherently so. In fact time is limitless and valueless. It is our time that is precious because we only get allocated a small amount of it. That's what makes it precious.

Part of this limited time we have, we spend creating content on platforms like Steem. Since our time is precious to us, we expect it to be precious to others too. Unfortunately this isn't always the case, nor should it necessarily be. Your time is only inherently precious to another person, if their limited time is somehow intertwined with or dependent on yours. Otherwise you'd have to convince them that it is the case - which is why we need sales pitches and marketing.

Many smart people have studied and analysed this concept thoroughly. There are two basic ways to make your precious time valuable to others. You must relieve pain or provide pleasure.

These don't necessarily refer to they physical. Pain can be psychological, logistic, financial or any other kind. Likewise with pleasure, which can be in the form of entertainment, providing contentment and so on. If you can do these two things in one, you can become invaluable to society.

How do you get your money from society though?

Pain is a powerful force. The desperate search for pain relief can drive you to do things you wouldn't normally do. The fear of imminent pain, and the desire to avoid is is another one.

You get your money by building a gate between the person in pain, and the pain relief and charging a fee.

This is the most effective way. It's even more effective than the pleasure route. No one realises this more or uses it more efficiently than propagators of religion. In the Abrahamic faiths for instance, I believe the fear of Hell drives more people to them than the promise of Heaven.

---

Peace and Love ✌🏿
Adé

All copy and photos are original content by me.
© adetorrent.com