If it was all about the money, I should be spending my time managing my assets, not writing. At least my hourly rate would go up astronomically. But, I do like the writing and I do like the earning rewards on the writing. don't worry, it isn't dirty to say that you like earning on the work you put in.
It is is kind of a weird thing to admit here though, isn't it, as most people will say that they would write for nothing - which might be true for a minority, but untrue of the average. It is the possibility to earn and get rewarded that provides incentive to create for most people here and, some do very well at it. We live in a world where most of us have to work at something we don't like all that much for a living and, also in jobs where we might not get to allow our creative selves do their thing. So, I find it refreshing to get rewarded for my craft.
Is it my craft?
I have never taken a creative writing course or even read that much - I didn't even get an "A" in high school English studies, so I am very much untrained in what others might study for years. Funny eh? How many people who study writing are able to earn on what they want to write, and how many are earning on what others want them to write? I would predict that most aren't earning on their personal art and craft.
Speaking of not reading much, I tend not to. I always feel like I don't have the time and then there is the more important reason - I don't want to lose my own voice. I don't want to be a parrot of someone else's words. It is not that I can't use a quote here and there, but they generally come up in one to one conversation and I recall them later, than from the consumption of the content itself.
This is the same with crypto and news in general - the majority of articles that I have ever quoted or referenced, have been handed to me through my network. I don't trawl the internet looking for content to write about, because I feel that the filter is going to return the algorithm desires, more than what is actually interesting. What I mean by this is the mass media tend to have "themes" that they follow and most of society tends to jump onboard.
Anyone watched Squid Game yet?
I haven't. From what I have been told, it might be of interest to me considering what it is based on, but just think about how it has been integrated into the common narrative over the last few weeks globally. How many other Korean series have you watched - if you are not Korean? Yet, viral. That isn't word of mouth, that is the media machine distribution mechanism at work. Netflix can hype any show they create and draw attention to it - no one "chances upon" anything in the centralized media these days.
However, I keep a diverse range of friends, acquaintances and clients - and this allows me to have a cross-section of society and culture in some way, where I am able to take the temperate of the environment and see trends emerge. It has been very useful in my business dealings over the years, as organizations tend to get stuck in their own narrative of awesomeness, without realizing others are doing pretty much the same thing - because, that is what the trend is. Very few are trendsetters.
The trendsetters are the distributors, the marketers, the corporations that make people feel like they are unique and special, while making everyone feel like they are special too. They are able to granularly target each as an individual, but get them to act as a group. It is obvious when it comes to something like a "memefied" show, but as we have seen, it is possible shift masses of people globally to follow other trends, whether it be political campaigns or social movements.
We see this often from people who are regurgitators of what they consume, talking about the latest trend topics, using the latest trend words, sharing the latest trend memes - and they call them selves creators. No, this is what the media does, it is about networking users to turn them into message relay stations. By identifying and profiling individuals, they are then able to send targeted messages, knowing with high predictive accuracy where it is going to end up, whose eyes it will reach, whose mind will be affected, and whose actions will be directed. It is an orchestration of behavioral hacking.
Yet, us, the relay stations, feel special, unique and as if what we are saying is our mind, our feelings, our creations. Nope - we aren't that special - the algorithms picked us, primed us and plucked us of value. When it comes to a show or some music, it seems harmless, but when we are moved en masse to support a cause, vilify a group, or enslave ourselves in a belief that this is the best we can have, it becomes far more harmful.
But, it is all just a tool and like a hammer that can build or break, or nuclear energy that can power lights or strip the flesh from bone - how it is used matters. Putting all of that power to move billions of people in one direction in a short timeframe at the will of the few, is ultimately going to lead to an abuse of power - as we have seen, are seeing and will see for the foreseeable future.
But, here we are doing something different and while it is far from ready, at least we are starting to see that it is possible to have more than we do, to use the tools that control us, to empower us to build something better instead. The narrative is changing, but don't expect a narrative coming from the narrow and powerful few to do anything else but keep them in front of the orchestra, leading them to play a tune in an attempt to hold onto their baton.
But, we are too smart to fall for any of this, we can see straight through it all - while we do exactly what everyone else is doing, because it is just so convenient, so familiar, and feels like it has been made just for us.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]