Author Topic: "Words they may have to eat" Department  (Read 5914 times)

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Offline CWEvans

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Definitely...

Good point here.  Humility is the cornerstone of trust.

I, for one, am extremely proud of my humility.  ;)

Yeah... we have had to eat quite a few...

And it takes a strong character to do so. It is those who refuse to eat their own words, in spite of irrefutable evidence to the contrary, that are the most unpleasant.

More to the point of the OP above, there are several categories of having to eat one's words, including:

  • Fools: Those who pontificate on what they do not understand, especially experts opinioneering outside their fields of expertise.
  • Liars: Those who want something to fail and work actively to undermine it.
  • Luddites: Those who cling to outdated dogma, refusing to acknowledge innovation.
  • Skeptics: Those who are unfamiliar with what one is doing, and naively heed the words of fools, liars, or luddites.

Engaging well-meaning fools can be very productive sometimes. Anti-Bitcoin goldbugs might be an example here, when they correctly identify shortcomings of fiat currency, and then resort to appeals to tradition, popular sentiment, and authority, as well as proving a negative, to make their cases.

A somewhat more adversarial approach is called for with liars, who are actively attacking one, whether directly or indirectly. One need not be belligerent about it, but one is not going to convince a rival to embrace one's position by seeking common ground. One should either ignore or confront a liar's charges—as gently or harshly as fits one's personality and the image that one wants to project—and seek to make him or her an ally only after one believes that this person has ripened into a fool.

When it comes to luddites, just let it go. You're asking them to repudiate beliefs that have defined their personhood for longer than you have been alive. To expect anyone to do that is asking too much. Warren Buffett is not going to start hanging out on this forum and sleeping over at the homes of BitShares developers, no matter how eloquently any of us makes the case for peer-to-peer, distributed, self-governing service providers that exist only in software.

If one finds common ground with skeptics, one often can convert them to one's point of view.

So... I would hesitate to quote Peter Schiff in the context of this thread, but Paul Krugman is fair game, as is Professor Bitcorn.

Offline bytemaster

Yeah... we have had to eat quite a few... 
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Offline fuzzy

Definitely...

Good point here.  Humility is the cornerstone of trust. 
WhaleShares==DKP; BitShares is our Community! 
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Offline AdamBLevine

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Maybe good to start with a little self deprecating humor.  Do you think there are any statements Invictus representatives have made along the journey that have wound up being more trouble than they were worth?
Email me at adam@letstalkbitcoin.com

Offline MrJeans

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"Stay away from it. It's a mirage, basically," Warren Buffett

Too many people have told me its a ponzi scheme. A few months later and the same people dont say that anymore... but they say it cant be trusted... a few months later...

Offline Stan

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The all-knowing author in this article

http://qz.com/193931/bitcoin-looks-like-the-worst-investment-in-the-world-this-year/

had a good laugh at Bitcoin's expense, then uttered this jewel:

Quote
In short, bitcoin doesn’t come anywhere near meeting the test of a currency. It’s not a widely accepted medium of exchange. It’s not a reliable store of value. And last week the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) dealt it a harsh blow by ruling that for tax purposes, bitcoin should be treated like a financial asset such as a share of stock, which will make it almost impossible to use as a currency.

Of course, your ownership share of a share of stock represents a claim on the profits of an actual company. Your ownership of bitcoin, even before the IRS decision, represented, well, that you were a pretty cool, tech-savvy person. In other words, not much.

Thanks to Wildwex for the discovery.
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Offline Stan

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Here's a thread to capture those prized words we think their authors will most likely have to eat before this is all done.

What examples have you found?

Anything said on these forums does not constitute an intent to create a legal obligation or contract of any kind.   These are merely my opinions which I reserve the right to change at any time.