Elon Musk said Tesla would accept bitcoin, for instance. Society, technically, didn't listen to him. They filled in the blanks and imagined what that could mean for Bitcoin. They made it a big thing. They turned it into something that got attention.
For some reason they thought it would create new demand for the token, which in turn would drive the value up. I watched many celebrate the results from imagination land. But nobody interested in buying a car is going to buy bitcoin first in order to get that car. That step wouldn't be necessary. The consumer will just get straight to the point. Maybe people who own Bitcoin can use it to buy a car, but it doesn't bring any new money in. Elon was simply tapping into a market. Similar to how one would offer their product in a new country and accept their currency. The potential people were celebrating was just the simple act of money exchanging hands but they saw it as something bigger. It's not the big platform with the big talker that made the noise. It was all the people surrounding it, and they were the ones that listened to one another.
He said he wouldn't dump the tokens gained from car sales, for instance. The people then filled in the blanks thinking in general there will be tremendous buy pressure created by interested consumers outside the cryptosphere, and very little sell pressure in relation. But Elon didn't say any of that. He also didn't say he wouldn't sell the bitcoin he already owned on the side, separate from what he was doing with car sales. That's how geniuses operate.
Sure, he's a famous dude and sure people will listen, but what did he actually say? Not much. Nothing to be excited about. Then he turns around and realizes bitcoin uses up a lot of juice. So he doesn't agree with that. He overlooked that part and maybe it goes against his beliefs. Well now the people are mad. He didn't lie before, he's not lying again. People are once again filling in the blanks. Now they suddenly think what they thought they had (which didn't exist) is now gone.
Now, locally, I can show you several examples here where a new development or new offering creates buzz. I can show you several examples where the people are left feeling disappointed in that new development or new offering, because it didn't turn out how they thought it would or something went wrong. What created those thoughts? Those behind the new development or new offering didn't make any promises. They just said, "Here it is." The people interested created what it means, believed every word they told themselves, and got excited when others agreed and shared the same view. They're in it together, there's a sense of belonging. What could possibly go wrong.
The outsider knows you walk into that mess, you'll get stung. Like walking into a prison and yelling, "What's up, bitches!"
Ahhh... all very reasonable and insightful. I agree with you.
Perhaps I shouldn't have used Elon as an example then. 🤔 Because although you've provided an excellent explanation of how the masses extrapolated whatever they wanted and then got upset at their imagining's failure to occur as expected...
Your explanation is more about a related issue (perhaps equally important). It doesn't really address the observable trend of 'loud influencers' spouting (often extremely) inaccurate data and having it being taken as gospel. As well, there does exist people with eye-opening, beneficial perspectives (yourself, for example) who go unheard/unnoticed. That stuff does still happen and it's what I was primarily seeking clarity on.
Still, I got a masterclass in how herd-mentality and groupthink operates when presented with fairly innocuous statements. Thanks man :) 😁
If I was a band I'd be, The Nobody Special.
I could play some damn good tunes and it's difficult to find people who don't like it. Playing loud as fuck, but the sound only travels so far. If I want more people to hear, I need to do something about that. But even the best have to grind their way to that stadium.
I finally get there, only to discover I've become that song on the radio people are sick of hearing.
"Why do people even listen to that douchebag."
That name's already being used.
But why do they listen to that douchebag? Because that was one of the options available.
Meanwhile, people are still listening to the underground. Quite a few. But it doesn't create the same illusion as what's popular.
J-Ryze is wondering why so many seem to be guided by idiocy. I wonder the same thing too, at times. Yet I haven't forgotten, most people hated that popular kid in school.
We're easily manipulated, it doesn't take much. Shit, you and I speak different, for example. You're so programmable. Someone like Elon Musk could say an astroid's headed for earth and people will panic. Hopefully not too many but I wouldn't be surprised..
Shitty part is Musk and all them know how easily we're manipulated. Turns to a game for everyone who ain't a game piece.
You checked out any links that Berwick account is attaching?
Musk said something.
Who listened to who? By the time it gets to the end of the line, a whole new story takes shape. Then that gets published and cycles down. This goes on and on.
Now let's take Musk and that situation out of the picture but keep the same pattern. Notice how the same damn thing happens with anyone else and what they say. Now apply how society is herded into echo chambers online. The arguments exist, you just don't see them, so it creates this illusion everyone is in support of an idiot. When you see people you trust on social media supporting something, maybe you don't trust the information but you trust your friend or family member so the info is trusted by default. When it gets that far down the line, it becomes difficult because you don't want to tell your friends off in this day and age. One click of the button and you're out of their life forever. So that kind of shit plays a role too.
It's probably an unpopular opinion, but I think those at the top have very little to do with what happens. I think the people straight up do it to themselves, then refuse to blame themselves, because it's easier to blame the big name at the top who can't even hear you. Those at the top roll with the punches and make adjustments on the fly. Everyone makes it really easy to stay one step ahead.
I wonder what would happen if this tactic was used against humans in a grand science experiment. Take for example scientists can't convince youth to participate in their experiment so they reach to my generation.. "Get fucked!" We said. So they reached for my mothers generation by first reaching for her parents generation—seniors, elderly folk.
The one's who were first in line.
Fear. Fear of being seen as the outsider. Fear of being seen as a conspiracy theorist. Fear of being seen as a racist. Fear of being seen as an anti-vaxxer. Fear of being seen as a Democrat. Fear of being seen as a Republican.
People are making far too many decisions based purely around fear these days.
That actually tells us that we are becoming a globe that has a growing number of cowards.
Brave doesn't mean without fear. It simply means facing and moving forward in spite of our fear.
Yet fear is clearly dominating...
Perhaps the biggest one... Fear of being wrong.
We've been conditioned to think being wrong is a bad thing. Something to admit. Something to avoid at all costs.
Yet really it is one of two ways I know of for us to learn. If you are wrong you have an opportunity to learn from it. It only becomes a bad thing if you don't learn from it and keep making the same mistakes.
The other way is when we are ignorant about things. All of us are ignorant about far more things than we likely know. This is not bad. We are ignorant about the things we don't know. When we learn new things we have removed some of the ignorance.
Learning from mistakes...
Learning new things...
Yet we've been conditioned to fear mistakes and also do everything we can to seek scapegoats and avoid admitting them.
It's a new kind of fear. Amplified. Fear on steroids. Yet there's no danger. The natural state of mind might be struggling, not even knowing where to place this stuff.
I think maybe people feel like they're being watched.
If you and I were sitting at a table in a bar, with a few others, discussing whatever, I'm wrong, you correct me, maybe I'm a little bit embarrassed, but the moment is already in the past. Live and learn. Easy to navigate. Worked for thousands of years.
So now we're on this grand stage social media style.
Same scenario, I'm wrong, you correct me, but my mistake was published, and I just spent the past ten years creating the illusion of perfection then tricking myself into thinking my friends/family/followers/whatever actually believe it because all they ever do is say nice things, while I make damn sure to never share photos of my junk drawer or that time I thought it would just be a fart.
So now, not only did everyone in the bar witness my mistake, but all the people coming and going well off into the future are going to know, as if this instance of failure was posted on the door. Whereas before, when it comes to those people, all I really had to worry about was my hygiene, knowing full well they'd never see or smell me again and if they did, my appearance is all they'd remember.
OMG I'm having a panic attack. I should have thought of all these consequences before I opened my big mouth.
Stage fright. Luckily, humanity to the rescue! Groups are formed around ideas. Stupid ideas. Smart ideas. All ideas. A safe space for everything and everyone including the folks who mock safe spaces.
Someone waltzes in to offer a correction, and the entire bar swarms them. "There will be none of that here."
Fear naturally converts itself to anger if there's no danger involved. People are putting on a show. Protected by like minds. Even something as simple as a question is converted into an insult. How is it even possible to not know what comes so naturally to us.
So I'm discovering there's a fear of being wrong combined with an illusion of being right, all while one's livelihood could be on the line if they change their position. And I can't think of one cult member in the history of cults that actually knew they were in a cult, so I'm not even sure where to begin with this.
Yeah. If you pay attention you also realize how privileged we have been and how so many concerns of the past are no longer concerns that we have turned things that should be trivial into very horrific things.
I mean I walked up to my grandkids a week or so ago and said "Punch, pow, kick, choke, slam" they looked at me. "Did I hurt you?" They said no. "They keep saying words are violence. They've completely forgot the sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me saying."
Grandpa has to try to drop some wisdom, keep them on their toes, and make them think from time to time.
A great example of how people over think, hear what they want to hear and blame others when things don't turn out as they'd hoped.
!ENGAGE 30
Hear hear! 😉
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