Up close and personal

One of the reasons I believe Steem has a sticky use case argument is how personally people take it. Of course, this isn't only going to be on Steem, it is going to be anywhere that ties economic availability to action. You hear about when companies "let people go" (make them leave) they say things like, "it isn't personal" and people quite readily accept it but, it is personal. What the company (manager) is saying is,

"that we are no longer going to pay you a livelihood because the skills you offer do not bring value to our organization."

That is pretty personal, which is why if people do not understand that until the Steem hits the wallet after payout the Steem isn't theirs, a flag downvote feels very personal. But, this is for all kinds of actions on Steem because all kinds of actions are tied to economic availability and in a complex system that intertwines through interactions, whenever someone feels they are having their finances encroached upon, it becomes very personal. As said before, I see this as a good thing because it more closely relates the feedback of action and consequence, something that humans are not particularly good at generally.

For example, it has been quite widely proven that the distribution of Steem is increasingly going wider than previously but because it doesn't feel like it is to the individual, it doesn't get recognized. This is especially true for people who have lost support over time for whatever reasons as even though they want higher distribution, their loss makes it feel like it doesn't happen. It is somewhat of an availability bias.

While the distribution and especially the starting 6 months of it could have been handled much better, these tiny changes over time are adding up to make large scale changes in the future. For example, currently there is a an interest earning on staked Steem that amounts to about 1.8% p.a. which means that for every 100 SP held, 1.8 SP is added to it over 12 months. 1000 SP is 18 Steem, 10,000 180.

There are now 2000 dolphins that have at least 5000 SP which means those 2000 accounts are earning at least 90 Steem a year in interest from the inflation pool. That is about 40 dollars worth and isn't that much but, it is significant over time. As are all of the accounts that have 100 SP sitting there too. This calculation actually takes about 17% from the pool per year - about 4,4 million Steem. Sure, most goes to the big fish but these things do add up.

It is these kinds of interactions that most people don't really consider, even though they are there for all to see on the blockchain every 3 seconds yet, people still take things personally as if it is only happening to them. Sure, they might mention other people in their various group levels but that is essentially a blanket to cover their own purpose, themselves - this isn't about greed necessarily, it is just that as humans we tend to take things personally because, we are human.

The internet hasn't really helped the situation much as it has essentially made everyone hyper-sensitive to anything that can be perceived as a slap in the face and because there is no immediate feedback and the protection of a screen and distance, outrage and digital violence ensues. Many are just looking for a fight these days as they know there is little cost in holding one, no more bloodied noses. Introduce economic availability into the mix and of course there are going to be additional complexities and any loss, potential loss, or barriers to resources are going to become personal sticking points.

When things are taken personally, the "greater good" doesn't come into it and because we each are individuals taking things personally, it is very hard to manage action toward a greater good - without centralization. This is where I find it quite interesting on Steem as while people want freedoms of many kinds, they also want protections delivered by various authorities without seeing the conflict between these points. I consider it that most of us have been raised in very authoritarian cultures where we must continually appeal to authority to get justice, which literally means,

the exercise of authority in vindication of right by assigning reward or punishment;

When we take things personally, we feel we have been treated unjustly, even if there was nothing personal in it at all. We assign blame of our treatment onto whatever we consider a worthy target without seeing how our own actions might have led to changes in the status quo. For example on Steem, the community and its tastes are always changing and in a state of flux and while some topics or content might be in favor one month, the next month they get very little support. Is it unjust?

When it comes to the reward of content on Steem, I see it that there has to be enough powered up Steem willing to vote on various content and that means that if someone has an interest in pottery and wants to reward pottery content, they can't expect someone who has an interest in guns to reward it, no matter if they have the SP available. On Steem for the most part, a lot of the powered up Steem is in the accounts of people who are interested in crypto things because, that is how they got into Steem. Over the years however, a lot of Steem has been paid to content producers of all kinds but, many don't see the sense in powering it up.

This is economic freedom of choice on Steem. Anyone can power up or down, anyone can vote as they choose but, there are consequences to action and as said before, I am glad that on Steem the feedback loop is more transparent and immediate than in the real world as people are more likely to see the economic mechanisms at play and adjust their behavior accordingly. This will continually increase economic literacy and in time could fundamentally change the way people operate and make their decisions. This is not an overnight process though and, it is going to face many challenges and challengers along the way.

What I like about Steem is that we can take it personally and choose from a greater range of interactions in an attempt to improve our lives. Perhaps one day and over trillions upon trillions of transactions, we will find an equilibrium point where there is a balance of give and take that satisfies us all. I am not holding my breath for me, but perhaps my daughter's generation will have a chance.

Life is personal. It doesn't mean it has to be taken so seriously that the only outcome is violence in its many forms.

Taraz
[ a Steem original ]