How Steemit is Teaching People about Mindfulness and Higher Consciousness

No, I don't think I'm being overly New Age and woo-woo here, so bear with me for a moment as I explain.

This morning I was doing my usual "rounds" on Steemit, which typically includes trying to find a few promising newcomers and adding some welcoming words of encouragement to their posts. 

Pay it Forward?

So I found myself reading a post by relative newcomer @silverstring entitled "Shoutout to Steemians Paying it Forward," and I suddenly realized something rather remarkable about the entire Steemit experience... and the how and why of how this community truly is changing the lives of so many people.

Now before I go any further, I should add that this article is based on a fairly "general" perspective... OF COURSE there will be individual instances that contradict what I am saying here, and counterarguments could be made. But on the whole...

What is it we DO, on Steemit?

The immediate answer might be that we create content and write posts (or "blog") that gets published and then we upvote and comment on other content and follow people whose contributions we like.

Certainly true, on the surface.

But what does that mean, on a deeper level? What drives it?

A while back I wrote a post about how being kind to others is actually a kindness to ourselves. It simply feels good to give someone a hand; a leg up... not only do they benefit, but we benefit by feeling good because someone else is better off. And it's really hard to stay grumpy when you are doing a kindness for someone else, so there's the mood benefit, as well.

Brilliant Design... or Brilliant Accident?

Then it occurred to me that Steemit is actually-- whether inadvertently, or through brilliant deliberate design-- a training ground of sorts for the idea that when we help others, we help ourselves. 

In life, that's often a slow process. We mow our neighbor's lawn today because her foot is in a cast; she brings us an apple pie two weeks later. On Steemit, the same form of reciprocity exists, except it is almost instant.

Now, I say this not because I am talking about "giving to get;" but because I simply believe in "right action."

Let's break it down even further: When we follow someone, and encourage them with upvotes and comments, we're actually making the (their) world a slightly better place. Now they feel a little tiny bit more encouraged, and they are more likely to go "pay it forward" (one of my favorite movies, incidentally) to someone else... and so forth, and so on.

Can Helping Others Become "Addictive?"

Occasionally someone mentions-- facetiously, of course-- how they are becoming "addicted" to Steemit. I must confess I'm a bit in that boat, myself, but let's look at the "nature" of that addiction.

If we are, indeed, growing "addicted" to something here, we are growing addicted to helping people. I "upvote" someone's post, and I can physically see that there's a little bit more in their "tip jar" (how I view the rewards counter)... and that's a positive feeling. If it is an "addiction," at all, it is to a rewarding behavior pattern.

It's also quite different from how other social platforms work... where people "collect" friends, or "likes" or whatever simply in the hope of feeling more "popular" among their peers. But it's ultimately a shell game; a house of cards that seldom leaves a lasting impression of wellness. 

Sure, folks are just as "addicted" to Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest and SnapChat... as they might claim they are to Steemit but those are "empty" addictions; like eating a sugar cube and getting a few seconds' rush, but without actually feeling authentically nourished by what you did.

Skepticism?

Of course, we can "go all scientific" on this and distill it down to no more than our desires to feed our own dopamine addiction. That's fine... but at least we're feeding it a meal of goodness towards others, rather than an empty sugar cube. 

We can also "go all skeptical" on this and argue that people wouldn't be doing any of this if they weren't getting rewarded... so it's not truly altruistic deeds we're engaged in. My "return skeptic" pipes up and says "And allowing Farcebook to exploit your good nature for FREE is a more 'noble' thing because...? Because...? Anyone? Bueller?" I don't think so. But the whole discussion of whether "elective" poverty somehow makes us more noble and conscious is a topic for another article, on another day.

Getting back to the topic of the moment... it seems to me that a large part of what makes Steemit "work" so well for everyone is exactly this thing that we are subtly being taught that helping others a little bit actually helps US... and isn't THAT just an amazing thing!

I think it really works, though. For the past four months, I have observed a number of people come to this platform "for the money," but a couple of months later I find them still posting... but because they feel like they are part of something.

All I can say to that is... WOW!

What do YOU think? Have you ever paused to consider the greater psychological effect of Steemit? Have you looked deeper at what this community actually DOES? What our daily rounds and votes and comments mean, on a greater scale? IS there an element of Steemit that is subtly teaching us to be better, more caring people? Leave a comment-- share your experiences and observations-- start the conversation!

(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)