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The negativity often seems to go beyond reasonable criticism and delve into spite. As another commenter suggested, I suspect a bit of jealousy is at play and it

by prawn 9y ago

The negativity often seems to go beyond reasonable criticism and delve into spite. As another commenter suggested, I suspect a bit of jealousy is at play and it wouldn't surprise me if a few spiteful commenters wouldn't discuss the shortcomings in a much different way if they held Bitcoin. Obviously, there is more than enough happy-clapping on the side of speculators to balance everything out, but I do wish the conversation more often found a practical mid-ground.

spookthesunset 9y ago
> I do wish the conversation more often found a practical mid-ground. There isn't much middle ground. Bitcoin has proven to do a horrible job at just about every single thing it was originally marketed as. It isn't free, it isn't instant, it isn't permissionless, it isn't anonymous, it isn't secure, and it isn't decentralized. The only thing bitcoin has going for it is the price, which is more likely than not fueled largely by exchanges pulling funny business.
ace_of_spades 9y ago
You actually hit the nail on the head but come away with a different conclusion than me... People do discuss Bitcoin differently depending on whether they have bought in or not. But the dangerous effect is the opposite of what you aluded to. People attached to bitcoin who have money on the line engage in acrobatic brain gymnastics to find ways to rationalize the value of it because they desperately want their gains to be real. At the moment they simply aren‘t. Bitcoin has failed it‘s initial mission, it‘s impractical and people just speculate that somehow things might change in the future. It‘s just a mind game right now. So your mid-ground would require me to accept that there is some value in the speculation regarding bitcoin which is a tough sell. It‘s mostly greed and people will be hurt by it at some point. Let‘s stop before it gets to messy!

by prawn 9y ago

spookthesunset 9y ago

> I do wish the conversation more often found a practical mid-ground. There isn't much middle ground. Bitcoin has proven to do a horrible job at just about every single thing it was originally marketed as. It isn't free, it isn't instant, it isn't permissionless, it isn't anonymous, it isn't secure, and it isn't decentralized. The only thing bitcoin has going for it is the price, which is more likely than not fueled largely by exchanges pulling funny business.

ace_of_spades 9y ago

You actually hit the nail on the head but come away with a different conclusion than me... People do discuss Bitcoin differently depending on whether they have bought in or not. But the dangerous effect is the opposite of what you aluded to. People attached to bitcoin who have money on the line engage in acrobatic brain gymnastics to find ways to rationalize the value of it because they desperately want their gains to be real. At the moment they simply aren‘t. Bitcoin has failed it‘s initial mission, it‘s impractical and people just speculate that somehow things might change in the future. It‘s just a mind game right now. So your mid-ground would require me to accept that there is some value in the speculation regarding bitcoin which is a tough sell. It‘s mostly greed and people will be hurt by it at some point. Let‘s stop before it gets to messy!