Quote from: thezerg on November 15, 2013, 04:22:49 PM

Frankly, this is why cypherdoc's comment "the nerds do not know that which they have created" pisses me off. We know. Its the economics professors and media talking heads who were endlessly reporting and blogging negatively about Bitcoin. Before 2013 99%+ dismissed Bitcoin. But of that 1%, most were engineers.

But the "nerds" also know that, like daylight savings time the real world at times makes changes beyond the control of any system no matter how elegant. "We" know that bitcoin is awesome but at the same time we know what we don't know and can't control. So while I've been saying that bitcoin could become first global exchange currency I've been saying it quietly :-)

no wonder you don't do updates as frequently as i'd like you to Wink

i enjoy prodding and poking ppl around these parts to get them to think and be challenged. especially geeks. in a major way, this is what this thread is all about. challenging conventional thinking.

of course my meme "The Geeks Fail to Understand That Which They Hath Created" is just another one of those provocations. and i think it's fair. of course it's a broad brush statement which doesn't apply to all geeks but to appreciate the meme you had to have been around these parts the latter half of 2011 to understand just how bad the "geek" trolls became. i could name off dozens of you around here who are engineers, moderators, programmers, mathematicians who trolled me heavily for being bullish. but i won't so as not to embarrass them. while you are correct to say these ppl have astounding skills at math, complex systems, different programming languages, and layouts, etc., what all of them lacked is imagination, investment experience, and an understanding of the speculative mind. one of the most common themes behind their whining was "those evil speculators!". "they are causing way too much volatility!" "guys like cypherdoc who 'just want to make money'". "he's ruining it for everybody!" "Evil Mr. Manipulator". "When is the Whale going to Dump?". "they are polluting our beautiful logical, math based system of new money!"

of course, i argued vociferously with these idiots that speculators were key to launching all sorts of Bitcoin projects and bringing them to fruition. speculators pump money into the economy in many different ways and help drive the price up which acts as a positive feedback signal to those hesitant to get in the game. they take risk when others won't. of course it creates volatility. this is the nature of speculative markets when things aren't so clear. as an early adopter or investor, you want to see volatility. it allows buying on the dips. if the underlying principles and fundamentals of the economy are correct, then you develop and create a virtuous circle which allows growth; which is exactly what has happened to Bitcoin. most geeks could not wrap their minds around these concepts as they are not taught in school or within their profession. these concepts are, on the contrary, NOT logical but in fact irrational and based on human emotion. how many geeks do you know who read human emotion well? this is where the immense confusion comes in regarding Bitcoin.

i don't care how logical or smart you are in math or CS. many of these "geeks" failed to understand these principles. this comes with years of experience and trading in other markets like stocks, bonds or real estate. watching stocks go from a penny to $1000 in a relentless year over year ramp related to nothing but money printing puts a nice frame around things. experiencing an end of day short squeeze ramp due to a simple rumor that Warren Buffett is buying housing stocks in late 2008 imprints a most indelible picture of a manipulated market. you have to live through those things. you have to lose money doing it. most geeks don't have that experience either due to their age, lack of funds, or fear of the unknown.

i will say that geeks were probably in the majority of those who understood Bitcoin from day 1 but it is a questionable assumption. i am your perfect example.