The Indoctrination Process Of Bitcoin Believers
Isaac Newton was a genius best known for uncovering the Law of Gravity, connecting the force responsible for the Moon's orbit around Earth and the fallen apple down the tree.
He had a second life, a more obscure one, consuming his time considerably in search of the "Philosopher's Stone" ― in the belief that one could turn energy into Gold.
His activities in alchemy were considered illegal in England for two reasons:
Isaac Newton performed his activities using a dark network to avoid any form of punishment by the authorities, leading to periods of exhaustion and even delusion due to his self-absorbed beliefs.
He failed miserably, never able to turn energy into Gold…
Little did he knew the solution was not in the realm of physical reality but in the realm of our imagination ― in our belief system!
The Digital Philosopher's Stone
Three centuries later, since the attempts of Isaac Newton, another genius by the pseudo name Nakamoto has finally uncovered the "Philosopher's Stone".
The solution is described by mathematics ― the language of truth ― though no new laws of Physics were uncovered.
The Philosopher's Stone was coded in computer language and named "Bitcoin".
The true essence of this Philosopher's Stone is not in its technical innovation or mathematics but rather in a secret ingredient common to all human beings ― our belief system.
A new belief system on the most important force that drives the Economy, Society & Power Games: Money.
And with such innovation, we hear the stories of scams and the concerns by Governments & Regulators, as in the times of Isaac Newton.
The Creation of a Singularity
For a belief system to flourish, it needs to have an army of believers.
Combine that with the fact that Money is a tool to Power, and one can easily understand the impact that such a new belief system has on society.
One can assume that such a powerful new belief system should be implemented with care, thoughtful analysis, and deep examination of potential systemic risks.
Unfortunately, that is not the case!
A careless, mindless and selfish implementation of Bitcoin in society is what we see, with Regulators & Governments powerless to intervene.
We are witnessing a "Bitcoin Singularity", the formation of a new social belief system that is not being questioned and deeply thoughtful of its risks besides the promised solutions.
Bitcoin Believers are being indoctrinated by simplistic messages and false narratives to trigger their emotional frustrations with the current system ― and prevent asking hard questions about the promised solutions that Bitcoin is said to have.
Mental Games
Take a good look at this picture; do you see a red can?
Now zoom in on the picture.
Do you still see red?
The truth is that we already perceive the Coca-Cola brand as red, and our brain automatically assumes the can to be red.
You would not question it ― you can see with your own eyes.
Yet, a closer inspection of the picture reveals that there is no red!
This is not an optical illusion ― it is the consequence of a belief system that we have in our minds that we don't even question.
Since we were young children, we have been programmed that Coca-Cola cans are red.
Could the same phenomenon be happening with Bitcoin?
Have we come to a place where we can only see what we see, fail to zoom in and ask hard questions?
You might be thinking to yourself, "yeah, sure, but I'm smarter than that… I know I'm not being deceived!"
Oh... is that so?
The Belief Behind the Belief
We human beings like to believe to be rational ― that when it comes to our financial decisions, we can remove the emotions from the process.
The narrative comes well before the Schools of Economics that developed the theories shaping the financial models by which institutions and investors operate.
Plato, the Philosopher, thought of the human mind as a dichotomy between reason and emotion ― that if we strip all the irrational side, we become pure and closer to the truth.?
He believed in The Forms, which are non-physical objects that don't exist in space or time but are more real than objects that do exist in space and time.
We now start to understand our emotions from a scientific perspective, and neuroscience clearly states the relevance of our emotions in our cognitive process ― without them, we would become beings closer to social psychopaths.
But as neuroscience is advancing, so does AI technology and the schools of thought that perceive the brain as a computer ― again aligned to the platonic perspective of the mind as being made of reason that a computer algorithm can replicate.
"Cognitive psychologists subscribed to this false ideal of rational, logical thought, and so we diminished the importance of everything else" ―Marvin Minskey, MIT professor & AI pioneer
It seems that society has moved forward technological but backwards on the understanding of ourselves.
What we have gained in computational power, we lost in our self-mastery.
Instead, we proceed to search for a Philosopher Stone and aim to achieve a utopian society as projected by Plato, a republic of pure reasoning driven by the laws of truth.
The Indoctrination Process
Bitcoin Believers have a similar platonic view of the world and believe that Bitcoin is the truth because it is pure math.
It is no wonder to read from Bitcoin Believers that "Trusting Bitcoin means trusting math".
We are dealing with a section in our society that has failed to learn the lessons from the 2008 Credit Crisis and is illiterate of Human Nature ― preferring instead to revolt against the old guard ― believing to have the answers and label any critics of Bitcoin as dinosaurs.
Bitcoin is no longer an innovation but rather an indoctrination ― a process by which people lose their critical thinking and ignore the lessons from the past.
Unless you like to be passively indoctrinated, you probably want to learn more about the strategies used to manipulate information and behaviours.
The indoctrination process can be described in five steps:
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The process is designed to directly bypass our conscious critical thinking to our subconscious belief system.
In the same way that we believe all Coca-Cola cans are red, the aim is to believe that Bitcoin is Hope & Truth.
Once the belief is accepted, it becomes tremendously challenging to revert back.
The narrative is then built around the theme of buying power and trust.
Targeting those frustrated with the current inflation levels and lack of trust in institutions, the enemies are identified as the old establishment and central banks.
The Promised Land is the opposite of their frustration, a world with no inflation and free of central powers.
The oversimplification of the solution is a new monetary system, labelling that to be the same as a new financial system ― oblivious of the difference between the two.
Target to the most basic instincts of power and money, the Promised Land gives a Sense of Purpose to those lost in their lack of self-mastery.
They are now part of a movement of saviours from the incompetent people who have created the problems in the first place.
That sense of purpose is the ultimate mission in the indoctrination process.
Soft & Hard Believers
The indoctrination process results in a spectrum of Bitcoin Believers, from the Soft Believers to the Hard Believers.
The indoctrination process is non-stopping, with daily podcasts, articles, tweets and reports feeding the narrative to keep the Philosopher's Stone alive.
The Soft Believers kind of know that much of the hype is nonsense but still choose to believe it because the concept is highly seductive ― the power of seduction is one of the characteristics of the con artists as described in the book "The Confidence Game" by the professional poker player Maria Konnikova.
As for the Hard Believers, this is an all different game.
Due to their nature of self-absorption, they have become self-indoctrinated by focusing their attention on the evidence that validates their belief.
Hard Bitcoin Believers are prepared to face a potential "Bitcoin Winter", a term used to HODL their positions regardless of a possible crash in the market ― labelling any critics as the "enemies" in a war to power.
Any criticism is labelled as FUD ― a method similar to handling the buyer's remorse ― and those that will survive the "Bitcoin Winter" will be given access to the Promised Land.
All critics are labelled as parrots of negativity.
It is a potent self-indoctrination process, and the aim is to eliminate any critical thinking to reduce the chances that the house of cards fall over.
That is the reason why Hard Bitcoin Believers care the less about any criticism or hard questions, and there is no point in trying to have an educated conversation with them ― rather, one needs to address the phenomenon as a Cult.
From this perspective, it is comical yet sad to watch "economists" claiming there is no need to regulate the Bitcoin market because the industry "self-regulates."
Such "economists" are deluded in their ignorance of human nature, psychology, cult formation, power games and neuroscience, making claims out of touch with reality but more aligned to a Platonic utopic world.
In short, they are ignorant of their ignorance!
Knowledge is Power
Apart from El Salvador, Bitcoin has no government sanction linked to a legal tender to bolster its value and only derives its worth from a network belief system.
The more people recognize its value, the more valuable it becomes.
The sustainability of such a network effect is only possible if we have participants who are Believers ― and that comes with an indoctrination process resulting in a spectrum of Believers from the Soft to the Hard.
Hard Believers act like a cult under mind control groups to perpetuate the narrative and prepare themselves for a possible "Bitcoin Winter".
When someone enters a cult, they are subject to a process of thought reform.?
The methods used are explicitly designed to cause cognitive dissonance and suppress the ability to think critically about what is being said, operating in a closed group for mental support.
The marketing message claiming that "everyone is free to buy Bitcoin" is a subconscious message "everyone is free to join the Cult".
There are ways to prevent such an indoctrination process, and the most powerful one is critical thinking.
Take notes on what you agree or disagree with and do further research to answer the hard questions.
Invest your time before creating false utopian beliefs that do not correspond to reality ― as in the image of the coca-cola can, zoom in and see it from different angles.
This is NOT investment advice ― but instead hints to raise your levels of awareness.
The aim is to elevate the levels of consciousness in the financial markets.
Remember: operating in the financial sector is more often than not a power game than a place of scientific reasoning.
Conclusion
My concerns are not necessarily that there are opposing views to Bitcoin.
A healthy financial system is when we have market liquidity created by buyers & sellers with opposing views and risk appetites.
The problem starts when there is strong evidence of a lack of liquidity, perpetuated by Mind Control Groups indoctrinating people with misinformation and Regulators passive about it.
The problem is how Bitcoin Believers react to any hard question being asked ― as if a threat to their belief system instead of having critical reasoning to answer those questions and propose viable solutions instead of creating divisions.
Those types of reactions to hard questions are dangerously similar to those back in the years preceding the 2008 Credit Crisis.
At the time, it became taboo to defy the "Masters of the Universe" in their accessions of the validity of CDOs and MBS, even more so when supported by "mathematical truths".
As one becomes highly emotionally invested in the narrative, one starts to treat it more as a cult than an investment or even speculation.
"The mind can only see what is prepared to see."?―Edward de Bono
Plato, the Philosopher, has deceived himself into believing that the mind is split between reason and emotion.
Newton, the Physicist, has deceived himself into believing in the existence of a Philosopher's Stone that would turn energy into Gold.
Both geniuses and yet deceived in their beliefs.
If any lesson to take from here is that we are, after all, the best deceivers of our minds.
Nuno Reis
Former Bitcoin believer turned into a Bitcoin sceptic.?
Disclaimer: Opinions expressed here are on my own.