How Blockchain technology completely shifted my perspective on the world - Draft 1

carpet.duck (47)in #blockchain • 6 years ago (edited)

Dearest Steem community, this is a draft I have re-written from scratch today. I wanted to post it here to you all before I publish it on Medium because I believe in decentralised technology, also because I'm here to provide a genuine account of my journey.

I hope you enjoy this piece, I want to share more personal history about this but I'm wary of how much you have to read already. The draft could change a little bit before it goes on Medium, it's a little wordy but honestly, I'm very pleased that I re-drafted this up in a few hours. I used the tactic of writing a bunch, and editing every now and then. I am realising that swapping between editing and writing is taxing and inefficient, so I try to do one or the other in reasonable chunks

If you're looking to understand more about what the application of cryptocurrency means for us, this post should help you out. This is currently my personal theme and I will very likely be crafting a series of posts to contribute reliable information to the blockchain/crypto space.
If you have anything you would like to understand more, I would really love for you to reach out in the comments below, this will help shape my future posts.
Enjoy.

This post is one that's very close to me.

Not only is the title bold and slightly wordy, this was the post to be my first on Medium.

I was on a high from when I first learned about the implications of blockchain and cryptocurrency in September 2017. I listened to Podcasts about what decentralised technology meant for healthcare, supply chains, creatives - pretty much everything.

All of my wildest dreams which I let go of started to rekindle. The freelancing generalist that I'd somewhat let go of to work the 9-5 was starting to poke his head out, holding keys the keys to different blockchains where I could contribute value.

For me, cryptocurrencies and decentralised technologies are enabling a whole new way of living where value is exchanged in ways we still don't know are possible; and my vision for what this means, for all of us, is where this post stems from.

7 months of anxiety as I opened up the draft is finally subsiding and it's a real pleasure to write this for you, thank you for reading.

Context

So you know, at the time of writing this post, I'm 23, and at this point, you might roll your eyes and move on; but I'll trust that you are capable of ignoring age bias and also, I'll cling to the hope that what I'm presenting is valuable.

Growing up, I was the kid who jumped between social groups and as usual, I had one or two very close friends who knew me. The hopping between groups fostered broad interests and understandings of different subcommunities. I hung with goths, metal heads, the cool kids, the nerds; half-fitting in everywhere - and inbetweener really.

Like most kids, I had the simple yet powerful dream of wanting to help people. How this intention manifests was once quite linear and is now changing. New avenues of work are presenting themselves alongside the pitfalls of traditional infrastructure.

For young(er) me, my future self was a soccer player; then psychologist, nanotechnologist, software engineer, doctor, lawyer, writer, traveller - the introductory learning curves to all these fields excited me, and all seemed like paths I would love to take. If your familiar with personality tests, I'm a campaigner (ENFP) who likes anything that sounds 'cool'.

However, like most humans, I wanted to create impact; and what I realised, is that all of these industries and the work within them, was severely restricted by dated processes, laws and regulations which served the generation of profit before anything else.

This might signal naiveté or a lack of understanding of industries. No doubt I have much more to learn and I welcome your comments.

Regardless, I trust my gut and the point is, I've got many interests. They change, I change, and opportunities to work also change. Our needs change, our industries change, our strategies change, everything is changing.

Traditional structures locked us in to particular roles and positions, which has a very obvious and powerful role in controlled progress towards particular goals.

The fact is though, we're all capable of doing more than what we're assigned - after dropping out of University in my second year, I've spent my time in the workforce continuously stepping outside of my role to do what is actually valuable, not just what generates money.

And this, brings me to my point.

The correct incentivisation for actual value

I don't know what position you're in professionally, I don't know if you freelance design, are a CEO for food-chain, a partner of a firm or a retail worker having the life sucked out of you but, what I do know is that literally everywhere 'value' has been incorrectly and immorally correlated to whatever generates $money.

Growing up, I dealt with parents who lost the capitalists game and my time was spent 'valuably' only if it was to eventually produce money. Although I understand their fear in me losing the game of money, it's ridiculous how wide-spread this societal pressure is.

Furthermore on 'value'; we go to doctors to receive 'valuable' healthcare support, but healthcare providers are incentivised to treat symptoms (selling drugs makes money) rather than correct our lifestyles. I've experienced this personally in Australia, and the USA is undoubtedly worse off.

Creatives in several fields have the ambition to profit of their art, be it written, musical or visual. Instead, 'value' in the industry (what is rewarded financially), is controlled as cashflow is. This is challenged by smaller communities banding together and I'm lucky enough to witness this creative incubation a lot in Melbourne. Globally though, something needs to change. We should all be enabled to create.

So finally, how do cryptocurrency and decentralised technology change this?

Well, through incentivising different behaviours and exchange within systems, we redefine what 'value' is. The need for profit is replaced by the need for value, which is decided on by the users (me, you, and our 6th degree of seperation).

In late 2017, when I began seeing the implications of decentralised technology, I came across Episode 7 of the ICO41 Podcast featuring 2 guests from Simply Vital Health. Simply Vital Health has implemented a blockchain into their already existing platform to re-incentivise healthcare providers. With this, the priority shifts from short-term profit to long-term value for patients.

Blockchains in the creative space are still on their way; in fact, most are still a ways off building platforms which merge with our reality. As of May 2018, there is incredible decentralised technologies in development but what's lacking is the interfacing with our real-world.

My belief though, is that we'll see more come about, allowing for different kinds of people to exchange value in their individual ways. This re-inspires us to do what we've always wanted to do because now, it's possible.

If you want to create impact, there's no need to spend 4-10 years studying to get an entry-level position, work your way up the corporate chain, only to change one or two policies which add to your cause (while 5 others are created against it). I'm obviously cynical of traditional routes - I observe so much time in wasted dancing around bullshit we know isn't needed. We're humans, we can communicate and collaborate on what needs to be done, it's just getting passed the dated shoulds and shouldn'ts, the fragile egos of our higher-ups and the communication barriers constructed by profit-serving legalities.

All of this I believe, is enabled through the decentralisation of 'value', work and responsibility. Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology is for me, the next step in reconnecting us with each other. Allowing for complex exchanges and new means of collaboration.

Now can we get working on preventative solutions to actual issues?

Thanks Steem! The reason I am posting this here is that I want to inspire genuine individuality on decentralised platforms. For one such as Medium, I look to craft my presentations a bit differently since I am reaching a different audience.