Opinions, Biases, and Free Speech

No, this is not one of those YOU HAVE TO THINK ABOUT IT THIS WAY articles. I want to share my thought and feelings about these topics and give you an insight into how Bitcoin fixes this.

I usually write a long introduction to the topic at hand. I blame my past life as a journalist, where you had to ‘set the scene’ or explain to readers why thing X, Y, and Z is good.

This article aims to share thoughts and feelings I currently face or have. The article might feel messy, but this is how my brain works. Apologies in advance if stuff doesn’t make sense…

The issue at hand

We live in such an opinionated world that it’s impossible to be in favor or against something without adding your two cents to any discussion.

You had to be in a TV interview or get onto a radio show. Social media has aggregated this immensely, as it’s easier to go viral. If you look at any social bubble, it’s mostly the obnoxious loud folks who gain the most attention quickly.

So why write about this topic at all? The best answer I have to this question is a quote by Voltaire:

Opinion has caused more trouble on this little earth than plagues or earthquakes

It doesn’t matter if it’s politics, the latest family dinner, or a casual conversation with a stranger in a coffee shop. Opinions always cause issues or are responsible for uncomfortable situations.

Don’t get me wrong; I don’t think you should hold back with your opinions. If you have got something to say, say it! But I’m criticizing the way society interacts with different opinions as a whole.

Whether you’re a Christian gun nutter or a blue-haired social justice warrior doesn’t matter. Both of them should be able to express their opinions, and there should be an ordinary manner in how we interact.

Unfortunately, this isn’t the case, and even though both parties are in favor of free speech, at one point, they block out the other opinion and categorize it as a conspiracy theory or a nervous breakdown.

Free Speech with a Twist

This is a mistake because you’re blatantly ignoring other ideas and approaches to problem-solving, which is the main point I want to focus the remainder of this article on. So many people like to shout FREE SPEECH online but choose only to listen to one particular opinion.

Suppose someone comes up and reminds them that the idea behind open dialogues is to listen to controversial takes and add all of these pieces of information to a pool of resources to reach a healthy conclusion. In that case, they get shut down or censored.

It’s ironic, isn’t it? If they stick to their guns, you often hear both sides calling each other out as woke or old-school. But the minute someone points out the ridiculousness of their statements and how similar both parties are, they turn into the very thing they try and fight.

Obviously, there is more to this story than just left and right, but I chose this example because it’s the easiest to understand. The way I learned how to listen and understand what people have to say was very simple; Shut up, take it all in, you don’t have to agree with everything, but you should allow room for a different perspective.

Again, I don’t have to agree with everything people say, but there should be a place in cyberspace or the real world to tell these opinions and allow people to share their experiences. Ideally, all of this is done without algorithms or influence by centralized shareholders. Those were the ones who fucked up the discussion and drove us apart.

How Bitcoin fixes this

Did you think you would make it until the end of an article of mine without a word mentioned about Bitcoin? Think again!

Now, why or how is Bitcoin fixing this? Aren’t opinions, biases, and idiotic statements in the Bitcoin social layers? 100%! The same is said with the culture wars you see outside of Bitcoin. But that’s more of a human problem, not something technology can fix.

However, if you actually look at the topic at hand, for the first time in history, we have a tool that unites all aspects of society equally. It doesn’t do this with a huge financial incentive or a shortcut to achieve our goals.

Not at all! It actually takes a lot of work and time to understand Bitcoin to an extent where you see it as a solution to various problems. It takes a lot of Proof of Work - nice catch ey - to see the full potential Bitcoin has.

That’s what’s so beautiful about Bitcoin. It can’t be linked to a single mindset because it touches many disciplines, from energy to monetary policy and technology. Even though the media and influential people would want you to believe that it’s only right-wing fascists who use it, in reality, it’s open to everyone.

With that feature, it does something very few tools are actually able to do. Something my first boss told me is the ultimate stamp of approval that you’re on the right track. It manages to piss off the left, right, and everyone in the middle simultaneously.

I can’t tell you how often I published an article, was part of a research team, or an investigation that enraged both the left and the right. Each time I was in that situation, I knew we were changing the system or creating stories that enabled critical thinking.

Because this is what we want to do with opinions, biases, and free speech, we want to create a future where people feel safe to say what they want, improve the lives of others and ideally push the human race forward.

Bitcoin does all that by producing a new block every ten minutes, allowing anyone to exchange peer-to-peer and opening up the world to a protocol that doesn’t hate, discriminate or censor.