Greetings, fellow sentient beings!
I am going to talk about the bubbles I've bumped into the walls of this last year. From the inside or the outside. All of them — factors that shape our economic reality.
My purpose today is to outline some factors that sometimes might elude us when we make our guesses as to where we are going as a society. Except for the dumpster, of course. I'll hardly bring any new knowledge about the core topic here, but I'd like to share more perspectives. Having more perspectives is the core of my starting series.
My purpose in general...will be to question ;) While keeping my respect and gratitude to all the opinions I find here, I like to provoke further thought and open up perspectives...not just to lead you astray. I feel somebody should always present alternative angles.
As I mentioned in a previous post somewhere on my way here, there was a time when my ego would stay away from economics. Due to romantic ideals and such. The reason many people would claim to stay away from that field of interest.
Yeah, good luck with staying away from the underlying layer of society. Here's where I realized I was wrong to ignore it — I was always interested in science, the humanitarian branch no less than the rest, and everything that had to do with humans and how we evolved. And It took me some years as a measurement of experience, not age, to be convinced that economics connects it all, eventually.
I am fascinated with that. I find it quite interesting digging deeper into the matter. And also discovering along the way, that many fields I have already been into, university studies or just hobbies, are there in the mix as well and can be...broadened.
Staying in a bubble might feel safe but...
At first, I had the mind to define a separate Information bubble but that would have been redundant. They are all information bubbles if we look at perception as a function of incoming information and what our minds make out of it. Our sources, though...
We do have certain habits when it comes to checking out our sources. Before, it was "Fetch me that paper, let me watch that TV program..." and today we have access to tons and tons online but that does not mean we have the time and the capacity to sift through all we have access to. Now, an AI to do it for us would have been useful. But that is coming up in my next part when I touch more on speculative fiction and how close reality is to some scenarios.
We pick our sources at first based on...how attractive their titles and pictures are, actually. Titles, mostly, as pictures have become stock stuff mostly and not too relevant to the contents except as click-bait. Titles we chose.
Then come the algorithms or that thing we now call AI to offer us more of the same. And more of the same. Until we become zombies of our own narrowed-down info bubble of choice. Initial choice, then just consumer's behavior.
The filter should be our own conscious choice. Conscious of the potential time being lost or certain opinion being reinforced by repetition. Content creators tend to repeat themselves a lot as well, having felt that is what the algorithm favors.
One such topic that we reinforce all the time is money being printed and the danger of hyperinflation hitting soon. One of the above mentioned videos recommended to me by the platform was about a guy reminding us of money velocity being a part the formula for inflation. And he thought we were more endangered of a deflation. Of people not spending the money to feed the usual inflationary economy anymore. A psychological thing...There's that possibility.
Things happening one way for a while lead us to the bias that they will continue happening that way for as long as we're riding the wave. Even that steady inflation that stole our pensions?
I say keep your eyes open and look both ways for speeding trucks.
(Not saying that threat not real, it happened to some national economies already and I know at least of Lebanon suffering of hyperinflation this year)
Part of the problems above is that certain bubble being manipulated, i.e. inflated...
...indefinitely? Shouldn't be possible.
But who's to say what triggers the burst of what keeps so peeps in power.
Power is not easily relinquished. Those too long in power have the Dragon Sickness and do not any more think clearly. Their ego has inflated a lot as well and it's not going down thanks to reason only.
What is common to them and those opposing them. Thinking you're entitled to know best...
Well, if everybody knows best, there be some clashes. And the best tool to maintain control is...
Fear
All have seen how it's done, no?
Media was called The Fourth Power. It's one of the modern gods but I said I'll leave fiction for another time.
I am personally disappointed by our society because of the reason that giving freedom away happens — our generation wants as little responsibility as possible. It's always someone else's call and someone else's fault.
The danger of those going away and the mindset to not be personally responsible for one's fate...
But being the black sheep in the herd, I should warn of another danger. More sheep die annually to those who herd them than to bears and wolves.
...
We are not MSM but we do have our small media outlets now, too, so each of us could spread some FUD or FOMO when it comes to investing, too.
They have some protective function, too. They are comfort zones.
Research your problem from as many sides as possible...
Than take responsibility to choose a reality to act upon. Or sit it out.
I have relatively actively traded small amounts of crypto for the last half a year. Lots of times it would have been better to just wait. But I am following that general advice — experiment with what you can afford to lose. I do. The lessons learned are always worth it. Even those few $ 1000 missed opportunities.
Need...
stack...
more...
...
Patience!
The final image I drew with my mouse upon the inverted-colors image of a photograph I had previously taken.
Thank you for reading!
Yours,
Manol
