Breaking ChatGPT’s Bitcoin FUD #9: Education – part 2…
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 wraps up handling this purported 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 2
ARGENTINA, BITCOIN EDUCATION, FUD, NIGERIA
Bitcoin is a tool towards which people voluntarily and rationally converge…
when they need to. It’s certainly easier to adopt among groups of technology enthusiasts and libertarians, but it’s the oppressed and censored individuals who need it the most in order to overcome their struggles. While the former group uses Bitcoin as an ideological hobby or for speculation, the latter category of people needs it to survive under tyranny.
Though I tend to be a puritan when it comes to Bitcoin-related content and often dismiss low-quality contributions, I can agree that a limited amount of knowledge that’s being shared is still better than no such knowledge at all. As long as people know why they use Bitcoin (and we certainly shouldn’t question their rationality), it doesn’t matter that they can’t tell the difference between P2PKH and SegWit addresses.
Internet users don’t need to understand the differences between various protocols in order to use e-mail and an internet browser. Bitcoin needs to reach the same degree of accessibility, under a user interface which seamlessly enables anyone to send and receive payments across all layers and sidechains.
So yes, education is certainly important and there’s already plenty of it being produced every day. But awareness is even more important. Thankfully, governments in crisis do a pretty good job promoting Bitcoin when they try to ban it. When the Nigerian government attempted to restrict access to on-ramps and offramps in 2021 as a response to the declining demand for their failing national currency, the effect was that more people found out about Bitcoin and started exchanging it in a peer-to-peer manner for goods and services. At one point, there was so much demand for BTC that the exchange rate in Nigeria was higher than in any other place in the world.
More recently, the Argentinian central bank decided to “mitigate risks” by banning Bitcoin from payment applications. What they actually did was to tell people that Bitcoin is the escape from the crisis – and undoubtedly, the results will be seen in the coming months. The central bankers did everything it takes to help the Bitcoin project, even if they don’t realize it. All of this rising demand for Bitcoin will lead to the creation of even more ad hoc educational resources.
The people from Nigeria and Argentina weren’t deterred by the rather limited access to educational resources (at least, as compared to English-speaking countries). They didn’t give up on adopting Bitcoin only because nobody translated a specific book in their language and didn’t care that the amount of BTC-related podcasts and YouTube shows is lower in their country. They pursued their needs, used the tools at their disposal, and learned to the best of their ability.
As a decentralized project, Bitcoin can’t coordinate to finance the writing of books, the recording of podcasts, and the filming of video tutorials. Everything is a voluntary effort that may or may not be supported by the demand of a community. Some users create educational content with a specific audience in mind, while others do it for the sake of it – only because they want it to exist.
This magazine is part of the latter category: I don’t know who you are, why you’re reading this, and what you’re planning to do with the newly acquired knowledge. However, I do hope that you’re going to share some information with your peers and help them become more free. If you want to translate this magazine, go ahead. If you want to make changes and sell it, be my guest. All that matters is that information gets passed along for noble and benevolent goals which protect human dignity and freedom of all kinds.
In a perfect world, where central banks and governments are accountable and honest, Bitcoin would be a silly idea that fails due to lack of demand. But in our times, it’s a bit ironic how these institutions drive people towards Bitcoin and enable educators and content creators to enjoy a degree of success within their communities. Adoption rate and the quality of education are intertwined, as the former is a metric for the supply which pushes for the creation of useful resources.
In a perfect world, ChatGPT would be right on this subject matter. Unfortunately, it’s only a tool which parrots pro-government narratives without much nuance. It’s what the investors of OpenAI want, which makes it even more satisfying to register…
…another bitter defeat for the machine. Bitcoin education to the moon!
SCOREVlad 9
ChatGPT 0 ”
Vlad has shown that Bitcoin will just keep humming along and that lack of education is not a threat. I only see Bitcoin becoming more user friendly. I only see Bitcoin education increasing and getting better with time. Lack of education is only a threat to those that don’t educate themselves and miss out on the opportunity Bitcoin presents.
I’m Charles Polanski and I seek to turn the Bitcoin-curious into Bitcoin investors and enthusiasts.
Thanks to Vlad for making this excerpt available to freely spread.Find him on Twitter: @TheVladCostea
“Your Bitcoin influencer’s influencer.”
Host of the Bitcoin Takeover Podcast
Writer of the open source @btctkvr mag.
Check out his work: http://linktr.ee/btctkvr