I have a problem with human nature arguments, basically because the economic, political and social environment have a profound impact on what is deemed to be 'acceptable' levels of self-interest.
As I see it, late-capitalism encourages a particular form of self-interested behavior: the pursuit of capital gain, and this has 'evolved/ regressed' (depending on how you see it) to have fewer rules which dictate the movement of capital and fewer restrictions on the ability of the those with capital to move it about in order to maximise their ROI.
Crypto currency and steemit (possibly especially) just provide greater opportunities for people that have already been encouraged to pursue the self interested pursuit of capital accumulation to carry on doing so, but they offer much greater potential returns (at more risk) over a shorter time. Obviously the more capital people already have, the more able they are to become empowered on steemit, and win over the witnesses.
OK - this is probably stating the obvious.. what I'm trying to say is that steemit as it is doesn't just allow 'selfish human nature' to carry on doing: our capitalist system encourages a particular manifestation of selfishness (making no value judgement here) and steemit amplifies it.
It's maybe this amplification factor that makes people so mad: you don't see this selfish-propensity of humanity (I won't call it human nature) in such a raw form in ordinary life - but, once again, it is the structure of steemit as it is, located in the capitalist system as it is in this particular historical moment, that has allowed this to happen - bid bot use is not down to 'human nature' it's down to this transhuman conflation located in a postmodern capitalist political economy which encourages individuals to pursue self interest with more freedom and fewer restrictions than in any other domain on the planet, real or hyperreal.
Bizarrely however, because everything's a lot more complex than that people like @davemccoy also join steemit, as do lots of other like minded people and start raging against it (it seems dialectical).
I'll look forward to that post.... but please don't fall back on 'human nature' arguments! Humans have the capacity to do many things - be selfish, be altruistic, even to question the nature of the self and to transcend it.
Also, we're way beyond 'human nature' here anyway, many of the 'users' aren't actually human!
As to your 'how do we fix it question' VERY GOOD QUESTION. Too long to comment on in-depth, suffice to say, I understand what you are saying about the complexities of making changes.
Very good reply @revisesociology. There isn't much I can add to it, I just wanted to let you know I read it and appreciate you taking the time to write out such in-depth thoughts! :)
Hey thanks, it's good to think these things through!
Karl.