Whenever there is something to gain, there will always be abuse and we see this everywhere, not just on Hive or in crypto. The entire global economy is a system of scam where the value is manipulated and directed by the very few into their own pockets, most of which is through a process that many do not understand and are blind to.
I have said before, that I think that part of the problems people have on Hive in regard to the behavior of others, is that the transparency here allows them to witness the same things that have been hidden away from them in the "real world" economic and government systems. While this upsets many as most would rather take the ignorance is bliss approach, the difference on Hive is that as we can see it, we can also have a chance to deal with it.
But as said, whenever there is value scammers exist - even if it isn't for monetary gain.
I used to play FPS games and the amount of people using hacks like aimbots, wallhacks, glitches, map views and the like was massive - even though there was no money in it. While there might be money in gaming, there is not in cheating. However, people still cheated because there was value to do so, personal value, the feeling of "pwning" others. But, how empty must that feeling be when one knows definitively that minus the hack, they are skill-less?
This doesn't seem to stop many people and this seems to be exacerbated by anonymity or in areas where there is no or low cost to being caught. I used to play Words with Friends with a person who I thought was very good as nearly every move was a high score - then discovered that there are multiple cheat sites for these types of games. I asked him in chat if he had ever heard of anyone using them - and he never started another game with me. The funny thing was that I played against him for over a year, and I improved a lot.
I think that this is one of the things with cheating the games that many do not consider - cheating becomes a habit that lowers required skill. We saw this for years on Steem through the bidbots, where people boosted their post and earned something without actually having to do much - once the bidbots stopped - they had nothing, no community, no interaction, no friends. It has also been the same with many of the circlejerks from the old days, where once the bidbots took the stake away from autovoting content, they were left high, dry and complaining about how things used to be better.
Cheating lowers skill, and the longer it goes undetected, the more reliant one will become on the crutch, weakened and possibly forever limited. Letting go of the crutch means to fall and likely requires rehabilitation, as it has been so long that some people have lived under assistance.
There is a saying that, cheaters never prosper, but economically this is likely not true at all - but from a personal value standpoint, it is likely very true. It would be hard for most people to psychologically and emotionally prosper when there is the intimate knowledge that the only reason for success comes through cheating. To be able to be okay with this, would likely require being a psychopath or having narcissistic personality disorder, where no matter what one does or how one gets there - the success is attributed to the self - an inflated sense of their own importance.
"Who are these nonames flagging me, don't they know who I am?"
The problem with cheating is that one can actually be highly talented, but once discovered, it will tarnish the reputation forever and bring every past and future result into question. Think about Lance Armstrong, who was a talented rider - what is he remembered for?
Maybe for some it is a desire for outcome and the journey means very little. This is perhaps why some people are able to justify making money from child labor and human trafficking, where the ends justifies the means - regardless of the costs paid by others on the path to get those ends.
This is also likely driven by our worship of those with money without caring about how they actually got it. We see this on Hive where people are seemingly blind to some of the most abusive accounts because, they have never looked any deeper - just at the surface wallet. As a society, we tend to look up to and admire those who have more than us and accredit them with skills they do not actually possess.
"I am no doctor, but you should take these drugs. Try them. They are great. I might even take them myself."
And we do. We seem to think that making money in a narrow field gives generalized knowledge and the wisdom to use it. We think that if someone has managed to acquire more than us, they must be skillful and their advice is worth more than that of others and, we scrutinize that advice less.
We live in a world that has simultaneously pushed maximization of the individual and disconnection from community, then wonder why there is so much anti-social behavior. We give space to trolls who cost value and criticize those who are trying their best to generate value. We vote liars and thieves into positions of power and want those who work toward real solutions minimized.
While Gandhi said "be the change you want to see in the world", the fact is that while everyone should try their best, most do not have the skill or platform to do things at scale - being the change is a groundswell movement. However, people should also consider that part of them being is their actions and interactions with others - and supporting the change you want to see in the world has a massive amount of impact.
It is an interesting conflict. We want more people to act for the communities in which we live, to help those in need, to create cures for diseases and technological solutions - and then we go and pay celebrities hundreds of millions each year to entertain us. Through our consumption habits, it is us who incentivize social behavior and for the most part, we support low-quality, minimal effort and useless - on and off the blockchain.
We are all driven by incentives and therefore, we should all take a look at what we incentivize in others.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Pfft I've known game cheaters and the excuses and justifications they come up with are kinda lame XD
Money/power/status/reputation/appearance doesn't affect my level of scrutiny (mostly because I'm too dumb to notice things like that).
I operate in a version of the world that doesn't always overlap with reality. I'll get them to converge one day.
I just assume they have "micro penis syndrome"
Don't get them too close together - leave the dream space
LoL maybe? I think it's more they're desperate for that rush of "winning"/getting what they want at any and all cost that they simply don't consider the effect they're having on anything or anyone while they're desperately
getting their fixachieving their "goal".I know you wrote about it in this article (much more eloquently than I did XD) because I was thinking about it afterwards and I'm also pretty sure you've written about it previously too.
I like the dream space. It makes a lot more sense to me XP
Only a few people grow out when playing against unfavourable circumstances.
I can rememeber hundreds of times when I was killed by a hacker and rage quit.
Yepp, it was one of the biggest reason why I left steemit. It felt like everyone only cared about rewards, which can be hacked with the help of bidbots.
Once bidbots came into play, most people didn't cared much about the quality of their content. The efforts were minimal.
I do believe though that all exploitations, cheats, scams end badly.
I rarely cared, except when they fucked the server and made it unplayable.
Only for those who used them - the problem was that they buried everyone else who didn't.
right.
Thing is, I think many will like to see an excuse to see flaws in hive. Of course hive has flaws irrespective of whatever people feels. Wherever there's a means to earn, there'll surly be bad behaviours and greed and hive is not exempted, not the white house, not in Rome not in any blockchain.
Thanks for writing
There is no perfect system and as such, all will be abused. But, that gives room for development and innovation too - a game of cat and mouse. However, to advance, the old scams need to be blocked - not tolerated.
Yeah, however human nature might seem insatiable in monetary issues. I guess individual discipline to not imbibe scammy behaviour has to be individually inculcated too
When people get the taste, they go full on scam and then complain when they lose support. The nuance and balance of give and take has been lost to most.
Definitely it has, it's herculean to restore that order without being compromising to many.
Congratulations on rep 80
Game of Cat & Flea here at the Pookyville Cat Ranch. Not a Mouse would dare too..... But those damn squirrels... LoL
I have seen many reputations in this Blockchain. It is really tough to really identify someone on the basis of that reputation score one holds. But for the first time, I can say your reputation score truly reflects your write-up. Wonderful and it communicates very well.
Thanks. I try to add at least something that requires a little thought daily. :)
“...every desire is a discouragement of the spirit, and any ministry - wisdom.”
"The Eyes of My Brother, Forever" Stefan Zweig
For me to understand this, I had to make a lot of mistakes that almost took my life. But, I WANTed to understand, let it be a very winding path, it led me to understand.
Many people are satisfied with desires at the level of instincts and avoid complex actions. Their life is full of fun and joy, but their last days will be empty. My life is a series of monotonous, planned steps that deprive me of time for fun and joy, but my last days will be filled with pride in all those things that I was able to carry out thanks to my monotonous, planned actions.
Ps. Sorry what i didn`t long write. But, I write the last sentences myself, without a translator. :)
You should do more of it, it is a great way to learn.
Lance.....? One Testicle of course.... Lmao
Seriously tho.... I have not hidden my dislike for the BOTS. I made the mistake of calling one of those creeps out by name over on "TRON light."
And like a bad FLEA infestation. they multiplied. Avr. was 20-30 dv's per post. And I almost quit over it.
Funny thing about fleas tho. With a little chemical maint. Cleanliness and good ptactice. They become almost non existant. Sad but true, the DVBots & Fleas will always try to overrun us and never are really totally gone.
You and @galenkp @crypticat @janton @simplymike @jaynie @denmarkguy & his sidekick @curatorcat @nikv @hippie-witha-gun and few others @Tarazkp . You gave me a different perspective, Food for thought. A 4 course meal of reality. I can say now that I am better equipped mentally to deal with the infestation of Bots that is sure to follow us into the #HIVE.
Do You think We can find a way to kill em
chemicallyvirtually? I would pay for that just like the flea maint here with the furr family. I am thinking maybe I will create a post about these "FLEAS."Those are just ridiculous things, those Dv bots with 15 SP.
Ignore all the BS around (or have fun playing in it) and the place can be excellent for creating, engaging and just interacting with lots of cool people.
You have not been wrong yet as far as I am concerned.
Great advice, Great life posts. And spot on Steem/Hive info.
Those days of bidbots were something. And the circle jerking still goes on here as we speak. No doubt
yeah, it never left - but as long as there are more good actors than bad, the place can grow.
Autovotes for me are a massive cheat when it comes to Hive/Steem but when cheats like this are allowed by code I really can't protest against them. It is just those using their knowledge and competitive advantage to reap the rewards.
Unfortunately it does make the whole game less enjoyable to play as a 100% organic user. I suppose if you can't beat them join them but where will that lead to in the end?
I don't think autovotes is cheating. If someone likes your content enough and wants to vote every time, I don't see the problem
That is all very true but I believe the cheating is when it comes to curation rewards. As I said the code allows it so there is nothing I can protest against when it comes to their use.
Okay. I understand where you're coming from now, the curators giving autovotes end up being the favored majority. It is what it is.
Yes indeed, it is what it is. I can't see it changing either. For organic users it is a disadvantage as we battle against the bots.
I think it depends with the autovotes. Some of them come in because of the content itself, some because there is the chance for curation return. For me, I don't take the autos for granted at all, or any voted for that matter. I try to make sure that whatever I produce has done value that even if the autovoters don't read every one, they won't be embarrassed having voted on it :)