Breaking ChatGPT’s Bitcoin FUD #9: Education – part 1

Breaking ChatGPT’s Bitcoin FUD #9: Education – part 1…

Vlad Costea’s “Breaking FUD” series continues with the 9th “top threat” to Bitcoin according to ChatGPT. Lack of education is seen as a threat. Let’s see how Vlad wrestles with this supposed threat.

On to the segment from the e-magazine “BTCTKVR 3: Breaking FUD”, released May 2023. I’ll keep posting the rest of this e-magazine over the coming days.

“Breaking ChatGPT’s Bitcoin FUD #9: Education – part 1

ARGENTINA, BITCOIN EDUCATION, FUD, NIGERIA 

According to ChatGPT, many people still do not understand the technology behind Bitcoin. Presumably, this lack of education could limit the decentralized digital currency’s adoption. In principle, I agree that it’s of utmost importance to teach others what Bitcoin is, how it works, and why it matters. After all, no invention or discovery in the history of humankind makes sense in the absence of both research to refine it and education to explain it. And even when you have these two elements, a context for this knowledge to be used is also necessary. Arguably, everything from algebra to the internet is meaningless unless we use it to solve problems and improve our lives.

Bitcoin is no different. At its core, it’s software which runs on millions of computers worldwide for the purpose of securing and verifying an innovative self-contained economic system. It’s simultaneously a much expected discovery and a revolutionary invention. It has the potential to change the way we understand and transact money. However, the way we use and describe such a system is subjective to human action and every individual’s financial needs.

Given these arguments, I consider the statement “the lack of education could limit Bitcoin’s adoption” silly, lazy, and antiquated. It could have been true in 2009, when only a few computer nerds understood what Bitcoin is and how it can be useful. It was probably true in 2014, before Andreas Antonopoulos’ “Mastering Bitcoin” was launched to inspire an entire generation of writers to also pursue this path. But in the year 2023, anyone around the world can read at least some basic information about Bitcoin in their native language. So I’d like to argue that this is the most shortsighted and easiest to debunk type of FUD that ChatGPT could produce, as today we have more educational resources about Bitcoin than ever.

I could probably break the FUD only by presenting how the BTCTKVR magazine has grown since its release in 2021: even before launching this year’s edition, more than 2,000 people worldwide have received a physical copy of the magazine and many more enthusiasts downloaded the free digital version. And since it’s an open source project, some of the best articles have been translated into French and Spanish. In 2022, Bitcoin enthusiasts from France, Argentina, El Salvador, and Senegal were able to get their hands on magazines at various conferences. And this is only the empirical data, to which I can personally attest.

Every day, hundreds of new articles about Bitcoin get written all around the world. We can see increasing interest from blogs, mainstream news websites, as well as academic journals. Furthermore, if you search for “Bitcoin” on YouTube and filter the results to only see the content that has been posted in the last 24 hours, you’re going to scroll through thousands of videos in English, French, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, Arabic, Vietnamese, Czech, Polish, and many other languages. You don’t have enough time in a day to consume the entirety of content that gets generated, which is a remarkable achievement.

But let’s also look at books: Amazon lists more than 300 long-form publications on the topic of Bitcoin, ranging from digital-only self-published guides to paperbacks from some of the biggest publishing houses in the world. You can find everything from coloring books to trading guides, economic theory manuals, and programming tutorials.

Admittedly, most of the content is in English and all the latest research gets published in English first. There also appears to be a lag of 3-4 years between the original work and the moment it gets translated and commercialized in more than 5 languages. Furthermore, some of the more technical works rarely receive translations – as their target audience is educated enough to already do most of the work in English. While these points are valid, my argument still stands: everyone around the world who benefits from internet access can learn at least the basics about Bitcoin. If something is not officially translated and/or published, today’s artificial intelligence technology is powerful enough to turn an English text into something that a Cambodian or a Gambian can read.

But to play ChatGPT’s advocate, there’s an obvious difference between quantity and quality which can be best observed in the case of YouTube videos – most of these clips are purposely designed and structured to attract clicks, but rarely offer much educational information. Many of them present distorted facts which reveal a poor understanding of the subject matter, and the most popular angle from which Bitcoin gets presented is a type of speculation which closely resembles gambling. It’s not even about betting against fiat currency inflation, the most popular approach is all about trading BTC for more USD. This is arguably fine. Does every Bitcoin user really need to understand the technical details about how sending and receiving money works? Is it really necessary to explain economic theory to someone who only needs to send and receive money from a digital wallet? Also, does a form of sound money require a moral dogma which actively judges the ways in which people use it?”

Vlad wraps up why ChatGPT is wrong again about Bitcoin when it comes to lack of education being a threat in part 2, coming next.

I’m Charles Polanski and I seek to turn the Bitcoin-curious into Bitcoin investors and enthusiasts.