Give and You Shall Receive: Learning About STEEMIT Karma

in #steemit6 years ago (edited)

This post is all about the power of giving and how that works in your behalf by generating what I consider to be Steemit Karma.
If you're interested in this concept and if you want to learn how it worked for me, then this is the post for you.

So, this may seem like a strange title, and a bit cliché as well. In fact, I know it to be cliché, but I also knew that these sayings get people's attention.

  • Why?

Because the Human Mind likes patterns, it likes what is familiar and it hates changes or new things... the Status Quo should be enforced at all times if our genetic programming is to have its say.

  • Why?

Because we evolved to fear change... if we're alive and well, why change things? If you're a caveman and you're well fed on berries, why risk changing your job from forager to hunter just to have meat? You could get killed by a Sabertooth tiger!

  • But why this intro? What does this have to do with Steemit and its economy?

Well, it's all connected, and that's what I'll talk about in this post.

Challenging the Status Quo: Kill Your Sabertooth Tiger!

The intro was all about getting you the right frame for this problem:

The Game is Rigged!

The game of life is rigged, we're all taught to study, get a job, marry, have children, raise them, pay for their tuitions and when we complete those jobs society gives us, we find out we're old, decrepit and with no patience.
People have dreams... everyone has dreams! You'd be surprised at the amount of people who say they'll work towards their dreams on their retirement. I hear it a lot.
The problem is that when retirement comes, they're tired. That ship has sailed.
You only live once, and it is your responsibility to chase your dreams, to challenge what society tells you to do, grab a spear and kill that Sabertooth tiger that is Status Quo!
Why should you stick to berries if your stomach growls for meat? Why should you starve during the winter if the world has abundant resourcesthat increase with each technologic breakthrough?

  • Why?

The truth is, you're programmed that you have to work in order to live. That isn't true. You have to give value in order to live, you have to contribute to society if you want to live. Not slave away on an 8 hour per day job.

The Wheat Farmer: Waiting for a Living

I like to quote the authors I'm influenced by, although I won't be able to do it this time, I simply don't remember who said what I'm about to tell you.
So, this great mind I don't remember to whom it belong said that Wheat Farmers would labour during harvest and the times it would take to process their harvest.
Then, they would spread the seed again and wait.
Wait...
...
They would wait for a huge time of their lives. They would live, they would help other people, they would go work on other people's fields and they would wait.
So, if in medieval times you could wait so much, why do we run after so much tech advancement?
Now, to write my previous post about @slothicorn , I researched a lot and found many mentions of "The Gift Economy". This may seem something new to many, but it is actually what drives everything forward in every sector.

  • Before you ask... Bankers do it too!

Corruption only happens because the corrupt know a gift based economy is way more powerful than the scarcity oriented economy we're used to seeing.

So, they grant favors, they gift, and in turn are promoted and get their due.
This is a "Dark Side" use of the Gifting Economy, but it is a use nonetheless.

Unlock The Power of the Gift Economy

So, if the Gift Economy is being used by Dark Side users (Politicians, Bankers, SHARKs and more), then why shouldn't you use it on your behalf as well?
This is where Steemit enters the picture. A platform in which your income is dependent not on how hard you work (though that heavilly influences the outcome) but on how much people are willing to give you.
Of course, if you work hard and people take notice, they'll feel more inclined to share the wealth with you, but at the end of the day, it all has to do with what people give you through their votes.

If someone votes for you everyday, and someone does not and you have only 1 vote available, to whom are you going to give it to?

The above example illustrates how you're prone to giving to people who give to you, and this is how everything worked when the farmer could rest for a great part of the year.

Contribute to the Platform: Love Steemit, it will Love You Back

So, what are you supposed to do with all I've written above? You're supposed to come to the conclusion that Steemit, the abstract entity that is owned by all of us and puts the rewards in your plate, is gifting you every day. The community is gifting you every day.

  • How can you repay it?

There are a lot of things you can do in order to gift to STEEMIT, the community, as a whole:

  1. Don't abuse the rewards pool;
  2. Promote the Platform;
  3. Tell everyone about Steemit;
  4. Support decentralized Blockchains;
  5. Invest into Decentralized Cryptos with a solid project;
  6. Contribute towards community projects (Check for ex. @utopian-io , @slothicorn);
  7. Join and Help Solid Communities (Check for ex. @adsactly, @Steemitbc);
  8. Hold Your STEEM tokens or Invest into Steem Power;
  9. Learn about what Witnesses do and Support your Witnesses of Choice;
  10. Make a project based on the Steem blockchain...

...and more!
There are many ways you can contribute.
Gift the community, Steemit and the blockchain and don't expect a thing back.
The truth is, you're going to get rewarded anyway, because this is how STEEMIT Karma works.

In @taskmaster4450 's latest post, he mentioned how I grew up fast here in Steemit, and I can tell you it was because I engaged with the community and helped it in any way I could...
...in turn, everyone helped me back.

Steemit Karma works... I'm your living proof.
Cheers!

Communities to check out:

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Loving it, Max!!! As usual, I will cite more examples to back you up, from my own personal experiences. KARMA is a universal truth, as far as I'm concerned. Stripped down to it's bare essentials, it is basically the same as the Golden Rule, "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you" which is found in the Bible as well...

The Golden Rule (essentially "treat others the way you would like to be treated yourself") is found in the Christian Bible very clearly in a few places:
Matthew 7:12: "So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
Luke 6:31: "Do to others as you would have them do to you."
The same concept can also be found in the Old Testament law of Moses:
Leviticus 19:18: “‘Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against anyone among your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the Lord."
Bing Search Results

That establishes it as a universal observance that treating others well results in reciprocity. Found in all major religions that I know of...

Here's how I see it for Steemit:
It's set up here so that it does pay to give freely to others. It comes back quickly, in curation rewards and a bit slower in the weekly rewards. People ask me all the time "Where does the money come from" and it seems to me that we are sharing the profits that would otherwise go to a major corporation and that is why it seems there is so much to go around!!! We are Sharing and receiving based on the INPUT we give, and instead of most of that going to an OWNER, it is redistributed back to the content contributors. WE ARE THE OWNERS, In Effect! We all have a STAKE in STEEMIT... Remember, this is POS or Proof of Stake Mining! The content generated is the VALUE We Add to the Website!

I noticed that giving to others with comments, votes, kind words, and the occasional "seed money" (gifts sent to wallets) does pay off, and in "Paying It Forward" you also get noticed by the bigger fishes. I have many good folks who follow my content, some with auto-voter and some seek it out and read it on a regular basis. I thank you ALL, and it is reaching a self-sustaining level, I believe. I'm not gonna brag about specifics, but I have found that people notice when someone reaches out to help others. MAX is good at this, and his growth is APPARENT! I see this all over the place, as well. MANY People "get it", and I believe the platform actually promotes it. Call it a "gift economy" or whatever, names can't do it justice, but once you dig on and see how t works, it demonstrates many universal truths that have been hidden from us for so long. They have always been there, just shrouded by the "world system" of greed and "me first"... OPEN YOUR EYES, a Better Way is Here!

100% Upvote for a 100% right answer. This is something everyone should read.
Cheers

Here it is again https://steemit.com/steemit/@conradsuperb/an-exemplar-of-how-to-steemit-101-take-spiritualmax-as-prime-example

as the more people who see it the better!! Hope you enjoy maxxie

You def have what it takes. I've enjoyed all of our interactions on steemit so far. You definitely seem to grasp that interaction is key as this is social media after all! Keep up the good work

Thanks Chelsea, you look cute in this new photo as well, and 3 don't lie, you're a cutie - and a really cool one as well :D

blushes
Thank you =)

Yup! Agreed :D

You womanizer...

:P
'takes one to know one' you handsome devil you!
;)

I do personally believe in Karma, may be not the same way as many could, but the universe power is surrounding us and giving positive trough can only result in receiving and been surrounded by good vibrations along the way.
Thank you for your post.

I do really believe about Karma as well, so far I've seen nothing but proof!

Hell yeah max nicely said, looks as though your good intentions here on steemit have lead you in receiving respect back from the community... the feeling is mutual, as least is should be-it is for me. The best way to flourish is to help ME help YOU, and that is what we shall continue to do. We cannot make this one time being a programmed continuum of popular belief because they said we have to... no body says we have to do this that and the other, let's formulate our own path and see where it ultimately takes us. KEEP THIS UP killing it and helping others in the process

The fact that your avatar is a man meditating already makes you a good person on my book. hehehehe

Hey Max I was thinking of some post ideas that I think could be good for me, and I thought of something that I think could actually be beneficial for the both of us... I wanted to run this by you first bc it entails yourself, so wanted to be sure if was okay with you. What do you think of me doing a post about you and your quick success here on steemit, the things I have noticed that you do well and what has shaped your introduction here on steemit (joining in December of 2017) so successful ??

Hello Conrad!
I'm flattered that you want to write a piece about me. You have my approval to do it of course, and do drop a link as a reply to this comment not only for me to check it out but any interested viewer who is reading this comment chain to do so as well.
If you think it will benefit you, then go for it, I have nothing against it as I'm sure some more eyes on my name is a good thing as well.
All publicity is good publicity :)

Namasté Conrad.

Okay great!! I will start working on this as soon as possible and will definitely drop a link in this comment chain as you mentioned.. see around around

NAMASTE

working on my post and was wondering if you were a member of any steemit discord communities?? Knowing this will help me in constructing my post about you.. please advise when you have a chance. Thanks, Connor

What about my 'Mole Meditation'? :D
Wasting ammunition at a horrific rate,
whilst smoking a splifff? ;)

Never understood that avatar... it's strange and crazy, much like you!

Sounds about right!! I will have to post some more yoga content, and teach you the ropes of some yogi my friend.. get ready to become spiritual gangsters :))

LOL conrad "gets it" too :D

Always a work in progress and always learning something new, wouldn't you agree?

Yes, same here. I want to follow you, and learn the ways of the Yogi :D

The ways of the yogi are bountiful and this post of karma will surely leas you to understanding bliss! I'm a yoga instructor too, Conrad, and I'd like to make some videos also!

Thank you, Max for giving the basics on reciprocity... sadly our patriarchal society uses it to shame consumers into buying...ie the joneses..
But like you said, darkness is uaing this technique but it's actualy meant for purity!

Well said. I am off today to meet with several Japanese and one Korean about how to improve the Japanese user base/experience on Steemit.

Keep the great articles coming.

And thank you for your service on SteemitBC and to the Steem Platform and Blockchain in general, it is thanks to you, @rt395, and other great minds and promotors that projects like these get a new life to them.
Cheers!

Wooohoo! Loved your post. it has totally motivated me to give back even more. I have been in a tunnel of producing and commenting and upvoting but there is still so much more.

Keep this in mind: With Utopian everyone can basically build any website or webapp idea based on Steem and open source for free while earning Steem in the process. Check out my 1UP project to see what I mean. We have come forward with so many contributions so far to push the idea to near implementation with the Steem-Plus browser extension.

Make your ideas reality and change the world!

Good Point Flo... that's a community I have to study... who knows if I'll make a post for it as well. :)
Glad you liked the article.
Cheers man!

Hey, did you see my Discord message?

Inspiring post... as usual @spiritualmax. I think, minnows like myself can apply this advice to the idea that even though we can expect little to no results early on, that the "karma" of simply contributing will change that outcome and to just keep doing what we're doing.

Indeed JB, the good thing with high comment numbers is that you see results early on though, so that's something I always advise. If you're good to others, others are good to you. Humans have a reason for living better in communities than alone. Cheers mate.

The truth is, you're programmed that you have to work in order to live. That isn't true. You have to give value in order to live, you have to contribute to society if you want to live. Not slave away on an 8 hour per day job.

I'm 100% with this. They (elites) see us as compliant little batteries to fuel their needs. They profit from your value while you work yourself to death for rent, food and an iphone. We need to find our own value, something that's useful or meaningful for others, and gleen all its profits for ourselves.

Gifting: I want to upvote blogs that I genuinely like but there's a conflict – voting eats through your voting power until it becomes nothing more than a pat on the back. My votes are currently worth next to nothing (until I leave them to recharge for a few days). If I were the equivalent of the wheat farmer, and went to help the pig farmer, wouldn't the pig farmer say, 'Thanks for the help, but you're not really helping. Now go home little minnow'?

Yeah, voting power is hard to save... I wanted to have it higher than 80%, but it is so hard to do it!
Thanks for the comment and analogy anjkara
See you around!

thanks. see you later :)

Thank you for this very valuable post @spiritualmax I'm a firm believer in the concept (truth) of giving and receiving. As a newbie, I have been greatly encouraged already which in turn, motivates me to dig in and learn the complicated stuff. Re-steeming to review again. Blessings.

Thank you for the resteem and I'm glad you took value from the content piece.
Cheers!

You're very welcome. The content is excellent.

I like your blogs and every now and again you come out with a right little blinder. Today's was a fantastic post and I really enjoyed it.

Keep up the good work and look forward to more.

That's great you liked this post Welsh! I also like you Odyssey to finding a spot that will finally accept your silver coin.
Cheers!

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