A couple of days back, my mates and I were discussing black swans and how they shape our world and future, we were really into it and the more we talked about it, the more an idea formed in my head. I became more and more convinced that the creation of Steemit is essentially a black swan event! Steemit is a black swan and I will go ahead to prove it.
To better understand the link, first we need to understand what black swan events are. The phrase Black swans was popularised by Nassim Nicholas Taleb and he used it to describe events or incidences that are deviations from the norm. They are occurrences that are different from what people would normally expect and have far reaching consequences or influence on the world.
Taleb came up with the idea after the financial crisis that happened in 2008. According to him, although black swans have major influence on the world, they cannot be predicted or expected. After these events have occurred, they are usually rationalised and explained with the benefit of hindsight, but the truth is that they can neither be predicted nor planned for.
Taleb designed this theory to describe not only the roles of these major events and their influence on the world in general, but he also put a lot of emphasis on the impossibility of predicting these very unusual events using scientific methods. He also put emphasis on the Psychological bias that blinds people from coming to terms with the unpredictability and dominant influence these events have on the world. These three points serve as the characteristics to look out for when identifying a black swan.
When I think of individuals who singlehandedly changed the world by their genius discoveries and inventions, Nikola Tesla comes to my mind as a major contributor. Nikola Tesla was a gifted inventor who revolutionalised a lot of things in technology, particularly in the area of energy distribution. Chief amongst his inventions is the alternating current (AC). Tesla provided the world with a form of power energy that was safe and cost effective despite all the persecution he had to endure from the hands of Thomas Edison and other power brokers. Other inventions by Nikola Tesla are: radio, remote control, laser beams, and robotics. Another ground breaking and world changing invention by Tesla is the electric motor, which is now used in cars by Tesla motors and is already providing a viable and arguably better alternative to combustion engines. But more than his inventions, Nikola Tesla was a man who simply wanted to give to the world, but because of his lack of social and commercial skills, he was persecuted. He dreamt of a day when real thinkers, inventors and artists would get enough credit for their creations. That day has come in the form of brilliant creations like Steemit.
Steemit is an example of a black swan because it is already changing the world by creating major deviations from the norm by changing the way people are rewarded for their artistic talents like Nikola Tesla dreamt of. Steemit is creating a paradigm shift and causing influence to change hands and move to the right people. Chains of commands are breaking down, go-betweens are losing their powers and those with the real talents are gradually being appreciated through the work done on Steemit.
Steemit has been able to incorporate some ground breaking inventions and forward thinking ideas into its mode of operation. Discoveries like the blockchain technology are very well harnessed on the Steemit platform and its growing importance is gradually being recognised by more people every day.
Essentially Steemit, apart from being an unexpected invention in itself, is also helping to propagate and popularise other major black swans. Dan Larimer has created something completely unique here, no one could have imagined that something like this was possible, let alone have as much influence as it is gathering today. Now after its creation, a lot of people are wondering why it wasn’t done earlier and why we had to wait this long to get it.
Everything I have written in the paragraphs above have proven that steemit satisfies all the criteria to be classified as Black swan, and even more.
Steemit is encouraging good reputation like no other social media platform has ever done. Here, if you are a person of integrity and good character, people will defend you whenever you are being attacked by trolls. Being a person of integrity also helps you get votes that could eventually lead to you getting paid as designed by Steemit, is there any greater motivation to want to be a good person and make the world a better place?