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Why does crypto on HN always seem to be polarizing? This article too is theorizing that people who are attracted to crypto, wish for the current banking system

by bartvk 4y ago

Why does crypto on HN always seem to be polarizing? This article too is theorizing that people who are attracted to crypto, wish for the current banking system to be overthrown and thus they are mentally unstable. Sigh. You know what’s also possible? Put 5% of your savings into Bitcoin and then continue to live your normal life.

dale_glass 4y ago
Nobody talks about people who just quietly do things and don't tell anybody. All the talk is about dramatic stuff happening. But other than that, putting 5% rather than betting your entire life on it still suggests some sort of expectation that this might actually be good for something -- unless you're the rare person who actually spends significant amounts of money mostly at random. If by chance you are, then the conversation isn't really about you. You're just allocating a percentage to a dice throw without any other reasoning, hoping it might actually bring profit by pure chance.
- bartvk 4y ago
  > allocating a percentage to a dice throw without any other reasoning Do you feel the same about stocks?
  - dale_glass 4y ago
    Sure, it's a possibility. There has to be people out there whose entire reasoning for buying a stock is "I have no clue what this company does or why this is valuable, but a whole bunch of people are talking about it, so maybe they're onto something, so I'll throw some disposable income at it just in case".
gonzo41 4y ago
I know a guy, who's great great, a few more great's, grandfather was part of a land race in Australia, where the rules where you could have as much crown land as you could fence in a day. His ancestors smart trick was to fence across a peninsula. Crypto is attractive because it has a lot of hype that make people think that it may be a viable way to get a first mover advantage and stake a claim on easy wealth. This thinking is IMO, stemming from the inequality that is present in modern society. Remember all those bankers that went to jail forever for the 2008 crash. Me neither. It is easy to say, comparison is the thief of joy. But it's hard to ignore every single media source gaslighting you about the simple ability of others to live great lives whilst your lift may not be so flash hot. Crypto is like a lottery ticket for a lot of people.
- bartvk 4y ago
  Yet we're not saying that a lottery ticket is bought by the mentally unstable.
stjohnswarts 4y ago
Because HN see a lot of news and info about it and have at least a bit of education about it unlike the filthy masses. Either you buy into the hype or you don't if you understand the basic technical aspects of it. Hype tends to polarize.
- bartvk 4y ago
  > Either you buy into the hype or you don't if you understand the basic technical aspects of it Do I understand correctly that you (saying either/or) feel it's a binary choice? Because I definitely disagree, there's a multitude of reasons why people buy crypto, and there's also a lot of variety in the measure in which they buy.

by bartvk 4y ago

dale_glass 4y ago

Nobody talks about people who just quietly do things and don't tell anybody. All the talk is about dramatic stuff happening. But other than that, putting 5% rather than betting your entire life on it still suggests some sort of expectation that this might actually be good for something -- unless you're the rare person who actually spends significant amounts of money mostly at random. If by chance you are, then the conversation isn't really about you. You're just allocating a percentage to a dice throw without any other reasoning, hoping it might actually bring profit by pure chance.

bartvk 4y ago
> allocating a percentage to a dice throw without any other reasoning Do you feel the same about stocks?
- dale_glass 4y ago
  Sure, it's a possibility. There has to be people out there whose entire reasoning for buying a stock is "I have no clue what this company does or why this is valuable, but a whole bunch of people are talking about it, so maybe they're onto something, so I'll throw some disposable income at it just in case".

gonzo41 4y ago

I know a guy, who's great great, a few more great's, grandfather was part of a land race in Australia, where the rules where you could have as much crown land as you could fence in a day. His ancestors smart trick was to fence across a peninsula. Crypto is attractive because it has a lot of hype that make people think that it may be a viable way to get a first mover advantage and stake a claim on easy wealth. This thinking is IMO, stemming from the inequality that is present in modern society. Remember all those bankers that went to jail forever for the 2008 crash. Me neither. It is easy to say, comparison is the thief of joy. But it's hard to ignore every single media source gaslighting you about the simple ability of others to live great lives whilst your lift may not be so flash hot. Crypto is like a lottery ticket for a lot of people.

bartvk 4y ago
Yet we're not saying that a lottery ticket is bought by the mentally unstable.

stjohnswarts 4y ago

Because HN see a lot of news and info about it and have at least a bit of education about it unlike the filthy masses. Either you buy into the hype or you don't if you understand the basic technical aspects of it. Hype tends to polarize.

bartvk 4y ago
> Either you buy into the hype or you don't if you understand the basic technical aspects of it Do I understand correctly that you (saying either/or) feel it's a binary choice? Because I definitely disagree, there's a multitude of reasons why people buy crypto, and there's also a lot of variety in the measure in which they buy.