Hello people of Steem! My name is Ryan, and I’m pleased to be joining this community - it seems like y’all have a pretty good thing going here. I’ve spent the last couple of weeks exploring Steemit a bit, reading posts, FAQs, the Steem Whitepaper, and generally getting my mind around how the blockchain, cryptocurrencies like Steem and DApps like Steemit, work. So much to learn, but a really interesting adventure to begin, too! So, this is me:
As an information tech professional and evolving writer, I’ll be posting mostly long form articles here about the various subjects that interest me: technology, geopolitics, ponerology, psychology, philosophy, history and astronomy, just to name a few. I have a personal blog that I’ve been running for, oh, many moons now and I contribute to independent news and journalism website Sott.net (The World For People Who Think). I also use Twitter fairly voluminously when I use it (who doesn’t, right? 😄) and I’m looking forward to seeing how the economics of cryptocurrency and the transparency of the blockchain will hopefully provide a platform that will self-correct all the problems inherent in a platform like Twitter (censorship, excessive centralisation of power, rampant abuse, low signal-to-noise ratio etc.) and other popular social media platforms along the same lines.
I’m also an ex-DJ with a penchant for Dutch gabber, and like health, fitness, travel and all things Eurasia; I’m currently living in Australia, learning Russian (Привет!), and I intend to move there as soon as practically possible. Я знаю, правый? I took a voyage to Russia and China at the beginning of 2017; Crimea, St Petersburg, Moscow, and the Trans-Siberian railway through to Harbin, in the north of China, then onwards to Beijing - a totally life-changing experience that I’m writing a series of articles about at the moment (I’ve already published part one, I’ll re-post it here soon). Here’s some pics:
My philosophical and spiritual influences include Pythagorus, Aesop, Socrates, Confucius, Mencius, Kant, Kierkegaard, Ouspensky, Gurdjieff, Collingwood, Castaneda, McKenna, my grandmother Jess (rest her soul) and Laura Knight-Jadczyk (a true genius in every sense of the word).
Five books that I think are must-reads:
Man’s Search For Meaning - Victor Frankl, The Hero with a Thousand Faces - Joseph Campbell and The Idea of History - Robin Collingwood also rate a mention as well.
One of the interesting things inherent in the Steemit platform is that robust discussion can have economic benefits. On other social media platforms we’ve seen the phenomenon of how trolls try to shut down or vector fruitful discussions under the guise of stopping “hate speech” - on Steemit, this kind of activity can actually activate an anti-censorship mechanism. All attention, bad or good, can result in economic advantage for the author, something that intolerant, reactive types loathe. Their only way of counteracting such a result is to not feed the discussion, thus allowing space for concepts to be explored without ideological bias - at least consciously. Where such efforts can be considered state-sponsored, the decentralised nature of the blockchain provides a way for the discussion to be easily routed outside state or legislative boundaries, preventing control at the level of networks or hardware. While not attack-proof, I’ve already seen examples on Steemit of malicious actors being quickly suppressed by the effective countermeasures of those genuinely interested in the welfare of the community. It gives me hope that some part of the Internet can continue to evolve in a productive manner useful for humanity!
I look forward to seeing how Steemit and its community grow, and being a part of that, in some small way. Nice to meet you all - I hope you enjoy my posts; comments are definitely welcome!
Best wishes,
Ryan
Welcome to steemit social community.Your writings is so interesting.
Thanks Meherin! I will do my best! 🙂
Hey @ryanlj! Welcome to Steemit and good luck!
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Welcome to Steem @ryanlj.
Do read A thumb rule for steemit minnows - 50:100:200:25 for starter tips.
Spend time reading Steem Blue Paper to know how Steem blockchain works and if you still have any queries ask them on our Ask me anything about Steemit post and we will try to answer that.
All the Best!!!
Hi you are welcome to steem community
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welcome to steemit.
nice to see you here.
Thanks Ushno! Much appreciated!
Thanks for your vote
Welcome Ryan (:
Thanks @chiefniki! I had a look at your page - that's an ambitious goal you've set for yourself! I look forward to reading about your adventures; best of luck with it! 👍
You seem like an interesting fellow. You state: All attention, bad or good, can result in economic advantage for the author, something that intolerant, reactive types loathe. I was just curious because you have selected the "decline-payout" option for rewards (as do I since Sept 25), and I wondered why you chose that.
I opted to decline payout on my introduction post in the spirit of contribution to the community, as, as I understand it, the total payout pool on a post is still split between voters and commenters. Not that the post will probably earn that much, but who knows! For the rest of my posts I reserve the right to fully monetize them (or not). 😉
Thanks for answering my question. I added my 2 cents (literally) to your future wealth. Good luck!
Congratulations @ryanlj!
You raised your level and are now a Minnow!
Do not miss the last post from @steemitboard: