I was shocked when Dan left BitShares to start Steem. All of us at bitshares felt lost for a while, but we have kept plugging along. The core code that Dan created and left for us works fine and tomorrow is a stress test on the test net to see just how many tps (transactions per second) the blockchain is really capable of (far more than any other crypto that I know of for sure - but just how much more?)
And we will have state of the art anonymity very soon with the release to test net of STEALTH technology by BitShares Munich in 3 weeks.
Steemit, after a short period of bewilderment, will go on to do great things too!
Just to add, I think it is actually a necessity that the founders or creators must leave and allow their influence to become assimilated by everyone who shares a common vision. A top down authoritative hierarchy is no different from the very governance models we seek to provide better alternatives to. Even though it is sometimes hard to stomach these moments of big impact, they are difficult necessities which ensure that the future of this project go beyond the vision of just one man or a few people.
I think that you have been "around the block" enough times to see things in a very long time frame and probably know this is going to work out fine in the long run. Steemit like bitshares has a very strong group of people with the right skillsets and vision to really disrupt, and I believe Dan and even Ned always intended to steer the ship enough to pick up the right people to make this an eventuality. But eventually they must let the beast make it's own decisions and take it's own turns.
One problem was that not all of the large whales did share a common vision. Some did not come out of the long joint bitshares history but were miners of whatever new chain caught their fancy and was profitable to mine. Thus they had the knowledge and skills and technology to get in very early and mine a lot of steem and became big whales - although they shared none of Dan's (and our) philosophical leanings. There has always been a clash of cultures at the core.
I guess, it is very difficult to truly share a vision that does not split into sub branches which themselves become stems for new visions. But one interesting thing is that as more participants get involved, the system becomes more complex, and just like entropy in nature, it will tend towards a state of equilibrium.
Wow, very impressed...
It's more than just that though. There seems to have been a conflict of vision within Steemit Inc itself. We can see that with @dan's pull request to make Steem fully open source which was rejected by @ned and @sneak.
For Dan, principle comes first. For others, business and profit come first. I am not saying that they are wrong. They have just decided that without profits your principles will starve to death anyway. Both sides have a point, but I lean towards Dan's vision.
Very brave to admit your vision @onceuponatime
As @sweetsssj mentioned: "I guess, it is very difficult to truly share a vision that does not split into sub branches which themselves become stems for new visions. But one interesting thing is that as more participants get involved, the system becomes more complex, and just like entropy in nature, it will tend towards a state of equilibrium."
Steemit will continue to grow as we all learn...
Frank
I think there's a ground in which principles can come later into the picture..
You have spoken wisely.
Well said. I thought I understood that and was okay with it because over the long term they would take their profits and leave with Dan pushing his vision forward. Now I'm not sure what the vision for steemit is.
I can see that!
As the times has changed, so will the platform. Let's keep Steeming On!
Yeah, this has been a real challenge for Steem. One more reason to dislike proof of work as a block production mechanism for blockchains.
The hierarchies I don't like use violence. Dan understood that and had a vision for not only market drive not systems, but also universal basic income approaches, something often unpopular within his own anarcho capitalist community. His vision and technical abilities will be greatly missed, I fear.
In agreement @sweetsssj - trying to remain positive and see rising opportunities now - i might be wrong but it is now a chance to change and implement things that were missed -like marketing and communications. Let us support our Captain!
Well said @sweetsssj !👍
This is REALLY happening in REAL time...
Amazing what few can learn from ALL of this!
I thought about this as I had trouble sleeping last night. Is Dan abandoning Steemit to go back to bitshares? Also... the price of bitshares being below a penny does not inspire confidence. I bought STEEM at $1 and will probably never see a financial return on that investment. It's sad.
I appreciate your optimism though. I really do. Thank you.
There is no way for Dan to "go back to bitshares" as any kind of CEO or "leader". There is no business structure like there is with Steemit Inc. But the bitshares blockchain could hire him as a "worker" to do specific projects such as develop a bond market on the bitshares DEX should he apply to do so and should enough stake-weighted votes support that.
Also, I wouldn't write off your STEEM investment just yet. But if you do decide to sell your STEEM, I have been buying OPEN.STEEM on the bitshares DEX and then moving them to my steemit wallet and powering up :-)
Thanks for the clarification. That's what I love about decentralized systems. No Rulers. :)
I haven't written off my investment, I'm just a little sad about it. I think long term it could be something amazing, but I also wish I had been selling on the way down so I could buy back much cheaper because I do believe in the technology itself.
"thirds rule strategy"
you can now google it
"Is Dan abandoning Steemit to go back to bitshares?"
To be honest @lukestokes this was my initial thought.
Yesssir .. we must go on and so we shall.
From a poem .. "The Lost Leader" by Robert Browning
Life’s night begins: let him never come back to us!
There would be doubt, hesitation, and pain,
Forced praise on our part—the glimmer of twilight,
Never glad confident morning again!
Best fight on well, for we taught him—strike gallantly,
Aim at our heart ere we pierce through his own.
Then let him receive the new knowledge and wait us,
Pardoned in heaven, the first by the throne!
Will this feature be usable on steem? Any limitation?
I'm not sure about the necessity of anonymity in Steem. We have all become a little bit sensitive to attaching wealth and value to individuals because of Darwinian philosophy, but I feel that a future such as the one Dan describes with free markets securing life liberty and property will supplant the need for anonymity.
It's necessary for buisnesses. Merchants don't want their bottom line to be public. If we want to build an economy with commerce,etc..anonymity is important.
Even as an individual, privacy is a must without it you can be subject to blackmail, targeted theft,ransom,tax,etc..
Some businesses are having great success with an open books model. Technology made us human and changes us (see a TED talk about how predigesting our food via cooking may have formed our brains). Many problems in the world today revolve around lack of trust, identity system seems, and reputation. I was hopeful Dan would be innovating in those areas here.
I agree with Luke on that point as well. Research the importance of transparency in business because it's becoming more and more prevalent and you'll be surprised to see that what amounts to the belief of it being necessary is counter to reality.
As for the individual there is a distinct line between secrecy and privacy. Privacy is inherent in our nature for a lot of things, but secrecy is abhorred in society more and more and especially in healthy interpersonal relationships for individuals.
I'm not a techie. I don't know. But both chains were graphene based to begin with, though I think that the code has diverged somewhat. So it might take some doing to merge STEALTH into steem. But I'm just guessing. Best to ask the BitShares Munich guys.
It has been discussed but the implementation is waiting Fabric to be completed first, I think. After the backend architecture is updated it's much more easier to implement things like privacy features.
(brings popcorn and shares)
Sorry it took me so long, I'm here catching up! Lucky to have a few of you on my "following list".