The value of making a mistake

Even if a concept is wrong, it helps to create the path to find the truth.
Imagine a time that someone believed that the planet was flat. One person wanting to see the edge of the world gets on a ship and sails and sails until they return to the beginning ... disproving the original belief. Should that person be ridiculed because he tested his belief or should the rest of humanity be held with less respect because they were complacent in their beliefs.

For years I was marginalized within my own circle of friends because of my beliefs. Leading up to 2007 I had suggested to people that they should hedge their positions on the stock market by buying gold. I am not an expert, it is just that sometimes that people see things on the horizon and don't respond to it. There are some "rules" in investing. During the year, there are times that the market fluctuates because of societal events. Everyone invest in a special tax exempt device (in Canada Registered Retirement Saving Plans - RRSP) in the early part of the year because they can mitigate their taxes. After the tax season, there is no particular rationale for poorer people to buy stocks so the market dips in the spring and early summer. There is another dip just as the kids go back to school because people buy school supplies and again leading up to Christmas people buy gifts, not invest in the stock market.

_The results are only slightly perceptible in this chart because of the influence of larger investors in the market having a buffering effect: a few larger institutions or individuals purchasing what the smaller investors are divesting.
Other patterns show up on a wider time scale. For instance the market starts to rise after the 2nd year of a decade and starts to collapse within the last 3 years of a decade. There are even cycles which appear over multiple decades such as the Kondratiev Wave which predict depressions. One factor which has lessened the effect of the current depression is the old age pension. Even though seniors do not buy extravagantly, they persistently maintain the basic economy by buying the same things every month (food, toilet paper etc).

My mistake was Bitcoin. I have been involved (slightly) in promoting this technology for years. To most of my acquaintances it was a big mistake. Now my mistake is STEEM. Of course I might be wrong, but I think this mistake will travel around the world.