> And yeah, I have a bad habit of "doing the hard things" and taking risks to engage smart people in conversations, sometimes stupidly (because I walk into a g

> And yeah, I have a bad habit of "doing the hard things" and taking risks to engage smart people in conversations, sometimes stupidly (because I walk into a group which has been conditioned against, say, cryptocurrency, and try to present my case). I do it to improve my own communication skills and also understand the dynamics on "hard mode". Treating life like it's a video game or an exercise in contrarianism is adolescent and borderline antisocial. Just don't do this. Trying to convert people is incredibly hostile, presumptuous and condescending and presumes you know better than their existing notions without even asking them about it or any kind of discussion or successful convincing. It's an easy way to lose the potential trust of acquaintances who have very little incentive to listen to you unless you earn their attention. I'm not saying not to ever approach things this way, but know when it's not appropriate. If you have to ask, it's probably not. I know I said that you should try your hand at building a community, but that's hard and it can fail as well too. Perhaps it's worth at least proving to yourself that you can function as an active member inside of a community without getting regularly downvoted. Don't malign "the bandwagon of something already successful" as if it's so trivial. They're succeeding and you are not. There was a lot of work and cleverness involved in them building that territory. They will remain on top until they are out-executed.