RE: The Daily Whistle Stops, Issue #6. (3/1/18)
The minute someone invents a new experience that is fun, worthwhile, educational and profitable, someone else (often more than one of these benighted souls) finds a way to spoil it ... or cheapen it ... or turn it to his personal benefit. It's one of them most bitter truths about human nature. This is one example. The recent dust-up between "the good whale" and a self-described crypto-analyst with a rich and powerful benefactor (maybe) ... is another one.
From a sociological point of view, it's all fascinating. As a dweller in the same ecosystem that is being poisoned by this behavior, it's really scary. The overall lack of response in the upper strata of the platform is the most worrisome piece of this whole drama to me. I'm not sure what to think of that, but like you I found @penston's article worth reading.
I don't know what to think about the fact that we are all being "played" for the sake of an object lesson. On the one hand, that could be a very effective strategy. On the other hand, that "lack of response from the upper strata" ... well, that's a problem. It will be interesting to see the next move. The story isn't done.
Indeed. Fortunately it seems "the good whale" and haejin have settled their matter. Unfortunately, it caused a LOT of damage across the board. Like you, I wish there had been some response from the top. However, since this is supposed to be decentralized, I cannot say that I am entirely surprised their input was not present. Hopefully things can settle down and we can get away from this whole vigilante/revenge type stuff. I mean, even if you think someone gets more than they worth, downvoting ALL of their rewards, especially without even bothering to see what kind of value their posts are worth, seems extreme.
We need to find that compromise and keep walking that thin line. Unfortunately, like you said, greed and personal benefit are a part of human nature, and it takes far fewer people to mess something up than to make it great.