Imagine you are asked to watch a short video (below) in which six people-three in white shirts and three in black shirts-pass basketballs around. While you watch, you must keep a silent count of the number of passes made by the people in white shirts. At some point, a gorilla strolls into the middle of the action, faces the camera and thumps its chest, and then leaves, spending nine seconds on screen. Would you see the gorilla?
Almost everyone has the intuition that the answer is "yes, of course I would." How could something so obvious go completely unnoticed? But when we did this experiment at Harvard University several years ago, we found that half of the people who watched the video and counted the passes missed the gorilla. It was as though the gorilla was invisible.
This experiment reveals two things: that we are missing a lot of what goes on around us, and that we have no idea that we are missing so much. source
You have likely seen the video before and understood the experiment enough but a comment by 
I have similar hopes but also am happy with what I have received thus far as the experience has been quite fulfilling so far as we learn! -
@newageinv
source
And my reply where the thoughts arrived:
It is perhaps a difference in perspective and position. You and I can see more because we don't have to narrow our experience to the earning side only.
That is a long introduction for a post, so I will just get into it from here.
A large ecosystem
Steem is continually growing into a very diverse set of applications, games and content genres that cover everything from physics to poetry, 3D printing to aerial photography. The range of content it holds is due to the wide variety of experience and interest areas the user base possesses and are willing to share with the world and consume from others. Even without any explicit value, Steem has an economy of ideas where people are consistently trading thoughts back and forwards and often across vastly different areas than their own specializations.
The best of us
What I have found is that the most engaged users across Steem are not content creators, consumers, developers or investors. The best of us are the ones who are interested in many aspects, all aspects. When I say "best", I don't mean they do no wrong, just that they are the most engaged across the platform and the most active. The reason is that they are getting a fuller view of Steem life and as a result, seeing connections and potentials that many others might miss.
Selective attention
This is something that the people that stay too narrow are going to miss because just like the Gorilla Test mentioned above, while they focus on their narrow view it is impossible to see the greater picture. The test above would be the same if one was to look for the Gorilla and then got asked how many passes of the ball were made or, how many males there were in the group.
Most people come into Steem with the intent to earn at some point, but due to current life conditions, that might take greater or lesser focal energy. If someone is well off already, the potential to delay earning gratification is more possible than if someone is looking to pay their weekly grocery bill. This is a good part of the reasoning for why the rich get richer too, as they are able to turn their attention wider and for longer than the next meal or rent check.
The widening view
I have always seen Steem as a golden ticket opportunity where the investment in is low compared to the potential gains to be made, but the large gains are really only possible when looking long. This means that those who are "forced" to cash out whatever earnings they do get will unlikely benefit much from the future as they will not have built the foundation (Steem Power) to build upon and work for them.
We can actually see this in many of the 2016 accounts who benefited heavily but powered it all down and once the bidbots came in to offer better return than curation, they lost the support of their "friends". Without SP for themselves, they were left high and dry, but this is a lesson to everyone as no matter how much support one might enjoy now, the changing ecosystem means that who and what people support will continually shift and some may never return to support again.
This is going to be interesting as prices of Steem raise also as those who got it cheap are likely to selloff their holdings and they are also the ones who may be supporting those accounts at some level now. The new dolphins and orcas however might not be selling and they are also the ones who are doing a great deal of the distribution now so, content diversity has a greater chance of earning again.
Now needs and later bleeds
While I understand that the needs of the now well enough, I also believe that the future of Steem and the value associated with it is very good, otherwise I wouldn't be here putting in so much effort. I am looking forward to a time that some of the people who have struggled economically their entire lives and taken a risk on Powering up some of their Steem are able to provide for their family and community in ways that are currently quite unimaginable.
Focus upon Steem
This is an early startup experience and it is much like a a very small group of participants involved who must perform many tasks rather than a narrow job description. This means that being able to effectively navigate more of the ecosystem, even if it isn't in the direct wheelhouse of skills.
This is why those who are able to straddle several experiences here from the contributor, consumer, develop and investor position are most likely the ones who are going to perform the best and get the best results. It is a question of understanding and the more one learns, the more one earns. This is not Steem exclusive, this is the way of the world as it speaks of the ability to provide for oneself and the value of an individual in a collaborative effort.
Narrow views increase fears
There are a great many influencing factors that will impact on experience no matter what position one holds and the problem with a narrow view is, these are blind unknowns. This means that even though the suffering can be felt, there is no known cause for it and this increases fears. For example, we can see that there is a great amount of FUD generated whenever economic change considerations are raised as for the most part, most people do not understand economics at all, let alone the algorithms associated. Even though suffering currently, many will take , *the better the devil you know' approach and opt to live by default, keep the status quo.
It isn't easy being Steem
None of this is easy and it can be even more difficult if there are "real-world" considerations that have to be attended to on top of Steem activity, but remember that most people want economic return at some point. This means that the activity on Steem now is the real world as it will have direct impact on life experience. For many, it is having an effect now and even for me it affects my life, even though it has nothing to do with financial economy at this point.
What I am hoping though is that through my blog and experience, I am able to help at least some people see more of the system than what they might be interested in directly and instead of missing the gorilla as they count the bounces, or miss the passes while they look for the gorilla, we can together build a better understanding of what the ecosystem is now and what it could be.
No excuses
While we all have different life experiences to contend with and some of us have better conditions than others, it doesn't mean that these become excuses for not acting, not trying, not developing, not learning. It is much like going to the gym to increase fitness level, no one can do it for you. While it might be great to have a helping hand in life, no one should expect any kind of savior to swoop in and raise them up, we all have to take responsibility for ourselves.
Responsibility is a large part of blockchain and crypto industries and it will be a growing component with those who take it for themselves having benefit over those who give it up for a false sense of security. While no one is responsible for your experience but you, this doesn't mean that you are alone and it doesn't mean that we can't cooperate to make all experiences better. Or at least attempt to. Narrow understanding brings narrow solutions and this is not suitable for a global forest.
As
the experience has been quite fulfilling so far as we learn!
Are you learning what you need to learn to improve your own experience?
Taraz
[ a Steem original ]