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> When I tell them I made a bit of money investing, they think stocks, not blockchains. I’m not even going to try explaining bitcoin to them. They don’t need th

> When I tell them I made a bit of money investing, they think stocks, not blockchains. I’m not even going to try explaining bitcoin to them. They don’t need the aggravation. So many questions: 1) Why would any human think blockchains and not stocks when you talk about investing? 2) Humans shouldn't be investing in Bitcoin unless they have money that is 100% disposable (which, judging by the tone of your blog, you don't). 3) You should try explaining Bitcoin to your parents. Trying to explain something will help reveal whether you actually know what you're talking about or not. I'm going to guess that you don't understand how a blockchain fundamentally works. I am guessing this because you're using "blockchain" as an example of something grokked by people on the younger side of the digital divide but not by the older side. If you think the grokking of blockchains is so widespread that you can use it as a shorthand for the digital divide, then I seriously doubt you grok blockchains. 4) Are you seriously investing in Bitcoin, or was that just poetic license? Edit: clarification and typo

pjc50 9y ago
The author hints that they bought in early to bitcoin and have made some money that way, although obviously they don't go into detail. Perhaps they do not quite believe the gains themselves, and certainly can't work out how to explain it. The author is slightly too old to be a true Millenial.
klenwell 9y ago
> Why would any human think blockchains and not stocks when you talk about investing? Good question. What I've seen enough millenials to slightly alarm me is that they don't think stocks or blockchains but multi-level marketing schemes. Are they more susceptible to being drawn into these than any other cohort? I'd guess probably not (I remember seeing Amway jugs in my parents' garage as a kid), but with social media it just feels that way. Anyway, between college debt among white collar millenials with decent jobs and crappy service-sector jobs among the rest, I suspect the real problem is they just don't have anything to invest.
- ZeroGravitas 9y ago
  The current Secretary of Education is married into the family that built Amway. And her brother is currently trying to privatize the army. Interesting times.
- ShabbosGoy 9y ago
  > Are they more susceptible to being drawn into these than any other cohort? There's a weird form of mysticism in the modern economy today. "Follow this secret method to make a million dollars."
kurthr 9y ago
Anecdata... I went to the local bar alone recently because I had to get out of the house for a contractor to do some stuff on the weekend. As I sat and had a couple of beers, I listened to the bartender, an Uber driver, and an aesthetician discuss ICOs, Bitcoin, and altcoins (Eth) for an hour. They had no idea what it was and I didn't really have much interest in bursting their bubble... they were all convinced they were going to win the lottery with the stuff... which websites had the best ICO deals listed, etc. I ended up with a few BtC because in the early days it was fun to set up a computer for mining so that was the story I told. When your cabbie/bartender is telling you about ICOs, it's time to start thinking which fool you're selling blockcoin to.
- Animats 9y ago
  When your cabbie/bartender is telling you about ICOs... That's a line from 1929, when a financier (Bernard Baruch?) made a similar comment, and decided it was time to bail.
  - blacksmythe 9y ago
    >> cabbie... This was a good predictor of the ~2001 top of the tech boom.

pjc50 9y ago

The author hints that they bought in early to bitcoin and have made some money that way, although obviously they don't go into detail. Perhaps they do not quite believe the gains themselves, and certainly can't work out how to explain it. The author is slightly too old to be a true Millenial.

klenwell 9y ago

> Why would any human think blockchains and not stocks when you talk about investing? Good question. What I've seen enough millenials to slightly alarm me is that they don't think stocks or blockchains but multi-level marketing schemes. Are they more susceptible to being drawn into these than any other cohort? I'd guess probably not (I remember seeing Amway jugs in my parents' garage as a kid), but with social media it just feels that way. Anyway, between college debt among white collar millenials with decent jobs and crappy service-sector jobs among the rest, I suspect the real problem is they just don't have anything to invest.

ZeroGravitas 9y ago
The current Secretary of Education is married into the family that built Amway. And her brother is currently trying to privatize the army. Interesting times.
ShabbosGoy 9y ago
> Are they more susceptible to being drawn into these than any other cohort? There's a weird form of mysticism in the modern economy today. "Follow this secret method to make a million dollars."

kurthr 9y ago

Anecdata... I went to the local bar alone recently because I had to get out of the house for a contractor to do some stuff on the weekend. As I sat and had a couple of beers, I listened to the bartender, an Uber driver, and an aesthetician discuss ICOs, Bitcoin, and altcoins (Eth) for an hour. They had no idea what it was and I didn't really have much interest in bursting their bubble... they were all convinced they were going to win the lottery with the stuff... which websites had the best ICO deals listed, etc. I ended up with a few BtC because in the early days it was fun to set up a computer for mining so that was the story I told. When your cabbie/bartender is telling you about ICOs, it's time to start thinking which fool you're selling blockcoin to.

Animats 9y ago
When your cabbie/bartender is telling you about ICOs... That's a line from 1929, when a financier (Bernard Baruch?) made a similar comment, and decided it was time to bail.
- blacksmythe 9y ago
  >> cabbie... This was a good predictor of the ~2001 top of the tech boom.