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The Red Pill Episode

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adam

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This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill – the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill – you stay in Wonderland, and I show you how deep the rabbit hole goes. Remember, all I'm offering is the truth – nothing more.

Reading the thread about telling friends about bitcoin etc, it seems to me the problem is context. People do not understand the basics and so do not see the reason to learn the specifics. I'm interested in thinking through what some sort of packaged, paced "red pill" CD, Episode-set or introduction would be worthwhile - I think again we would want to target commuters since they're more likely to sit through it if it's well produced.

We've never been good at that, what pieces of data are important to people who have no clue? What words shut off listeners, I would argue things like "Liberty" is one such and most of the libertarian claimed concepts are.

I'm a big fan of perceptual marketing, you tailor the message for the audience so as to fill in the blanks in their understanding and make it trivial for them to do the final dot-connecting themselves within their own head.

What do you think?

Posted on July 11, 2014 at 8:12 AM

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• deweller

  

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  I love the idea of a special introduce-your-friends-to-bitcoin product.

  One of the big "a ha" moments for me in understanding the relevance of bitcoin was when I became educated on how fiat currency actually works in my country. When I really got it was when I learned the practical differences between an inflationary currency and a deflationary one. And when I learned that my US Dollar was most definitely not the latter, I started to really grasp the importance of bitcoin.

  Posted on July 11, 2014 at 8:22 AM
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• Cryptonaut

  

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  heh, iv also always thought of it as kind of being like the matrix. It really is like take the blue pill and go on with your normal life.. or take the red pill and be prepared to forget about everything you thought you knew about money and the world lol. Its pretty crazy how far down the rabbit hole we have all gone.

  I think the whole concept of mining really throws people off, and its one of the first things that gets mentioned by most people. Its basically an entire subject in itself, so you go from explaining what bitcoin in general is, to trying to wrap their heads around mining specifically and how your computer can basically solve a random math problem and get money for it. Its hard to explain, so most people get confused by it.

  Posted on July 11, 2014 at 8:36 AM
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• Matt

  

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  Bitcoin has so many layers to it it's difficult to explain. I try to use analogies in order to explain the basic concepts such as playing the lottery with your computer to win something like digital gold, since it's a finite digital resource. People value bitcoin because it requires capital, energy and time to create. I also refer to it like the dollar 2.0 since it's a currency which has it's own built-in banking and transactional network, VISA + dollars (no paper required).

  I just read this post tonight and I actually bought up the redpill bluepill assets the other day... lol

  Posted on July 14, 2014 at 8:07 PM
  Last Edited: July 14, 2014 at 8:08 PM
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• BitShaun

  

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  I think explaining Bitcoin to first-timers has two big “don't s”: (1)anything political (libertarian, the Fed, criticisms of the dollar, problems with banks) and (2)mining

  Many people generally get put off by discussing politics, so its best to avoid until Bitcoin can't be explained further without bringing it up.

  I've seen local presentations on Bitcoin that completely fell apart when mining was explained (or attempted to explain). It's such a complex thing that high technical acumen is usually a must for your audience. Avoid mining like the plague, and leave it as the “back-end” of Bitcoin if asked.

  I generally introduce Bitcoin as a technology to easily exchange money/value securely over the internet. Sending money around the world is complex, slow, and cumbersome within current systems—Bitcoin is the intersection of technology and finance to solve this problem.

  The technology platform itself (Bitcoin) offers a range of potential uses that current computers/ internet can't provide on their own. Bitcoin is essentially a layer built on top of the internet, and it can do to money what the internet did to messaging and video.

  Posted on July 14, 2014 at 9:31 PM
  Last Edited: July 14, 2014 at 9:33 PM
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• CrimsonRoze

  

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  @bitshaun I think explaining Bitcoin to first-timers has two big “don't s”: (1)anything political (libertarian, the Fed, criticisms of the dollar, problems with banks) and (2)mining

  I strongly disagree about mining. I have had absolutely zero issues with talking to strangers about mining and the key here is to introduce the various concepts in the right order.

  NEVER start with mining as a distribution mechanism, ALWAYS start with mining as a security review of requested transactions. People always agree that there should be some security feature that reviews all requested transactions and confirms that they are not cheating.

  And I want to stress the "requested" part here. Reviewing past transactions has no value for people if they don't trust the mechanism in which new transactions comes in.

  That said, the details of proof-of-work (hashing, nounces etc) is not relevant to newcomers, the only thing that matters is that it A) makes bitcoin secure and B) actually works.

  Posted on July 14, 2014 at 10:47 PM
  Last Edited: July 14, 2014 at 10:48 PM
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• CrimsonRoze

  

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  My suggestions for episode structure for a Red Pill episode:

  -- There's no need to mention bitcoin a any time from here..

  1. Problems (How is cash, debit/credit cards, bank and debts bad?)
  2. Globalization (Is the aformentioned problems global, why do we need a global solution?)
  3. Decentralization (Seeing as previous attempts to solve these issues have been cenrtralized and failed, and we now have the internet and a good percent of the worlds population on it, could a decentralized solution be practical? could we empower regular people?)
  4. Desired outcome (What should paying and money look like?)

  -- To here, now it's time to talk bitcoin.

  1. Bitcoin exists. (Is it practical? Can you use it? Can you pay with it? Are the wallets userfriendly? etc)
  2. Bitcoin Security (Reviewing transactions, confirming history.)
  3. Bitcoin Transparency (Pseudonymous addresses, all transactions stored in the ledger, automated accounting etc)
  4. Bitcoin Today (Perfectly usable for early adopters, decent wallets, works for both small and large companies, will have matured withing the coming three years.)
  Posted on July 14, 2014 at 11:25 PM
  Last Edited: July 15, 2014 at 3:52 AM
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• CrimsonRoze

  

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  Another thought that just popped to my head: It needs to come off as humble or careful in the first part, and as confident and inspiring in the second part. If it's the usual trio of LTB that plans to do this I'd take Adam and Stephany for part 1->4, and Adam and Andreas for part 5->8.

  The reason for this is that Andreas uses strong language and is highly confident in not only bitcoin, but his own ability to explain it. Should there be some detail somewhere that goes missing its' important the the listener don't get hung up on it and instead "trusts" that there is a good solution behind it and Andreas confidence helps here.

  As others have noted though, politics and personal ideals tend to reflect on the arguments used so when putting things together you might want to look twice at the mindset you are presenting and maybe tone some parts down a bit.

  Posted on July 14, 2014 at 11:40 PM
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• rotalumis

  

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  It's funny how I've managed to avoid this thread for so long because I somehow thought it was about an episode I hadn't caught up with yet.

  I've been writing the first blog post for Crypto for Change about this very topic: getting people hooked on crypto. It's in draft, so here's a sneak preview.

  In order to reach the masses and get them hooked on Bitcoin and crypto, we need to talk to them in terms they can understand and relate to. Maybe we need to shift the focus away from the technology as a marvel in itself, towards its world-changing practical applications. It is obvious that people take a much deeper interest in something they think will help them achieve their own goals. It is one of those obvious things we tend to forget about.

  Instead, we crypto-advocates all too often sound like the hardware store sales guy who keeps going on about the wonderful lawnmower they received this week, when you live in an apartment block and just need some fittings to hang a shelf.

  People already have their passions, their wants, their needs, their fires. Instead of trying to get them to care about cryptocurrencies, maybe we need to pour a little crypto-scented oil onto those fires and make them burn hotter.

  This is the idea behind the Crypto for Change blog that I am starting on the Let's Talk Bitcoin Network. My aim is to reach out to people who want to make change happen and show them how they can use crypto-related technologies to achieve their goals.

  Posted on July 17, 2014 at 11:03 AM
  Last Edited: July 17, 2014 at 11:06 AM
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• Matt

  

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  @rotalumis It's funny how I've managed to avoid this thread for so long because I somehow thought it was about an episode I hadn't caught up with yet.

  I've been writing the first blog post for Crypto for Change about this very topic: getting people hooked on crypto. It's in draft, so here's a sneak preview.

  In order to reach the masses and get them hooked on Bitcoin and crypto, we need to talk to them in terms they can understand and relate to. Maybe we need to shift the focus away from the technology as a marvel in itself, towards its world-changing practical applications. It is obvious that people take a much deeper interest in something they think will help them achieve their own goals. It is one of those obvious things we tend to forget about.

  Instead, we crypto-advocates all too often sound like the hardware store sales guy who keeps going on about the wonderful lawnmower they received this week, when you live in an apartment block and just need some fittings to hang a shelf.

  People already have their passions, their wants, their needs, their fires. Instead of trying to get them to care about cryptocurrencies, maybe we need to pour a little crypto-scented oil onto those fires and make them burn hotter.

  This is the idea behind the Crypto for Change blog that I am starting on the Let's Talk Bitcoin Network. My aim is to reach out to people who want to make change happen and show them how they can use crypto-related technologies to achieve their goals.

  I think you're right, in a sense, but the first question I usually get is how does it work? Then I start SMH.

  Posted on July 17, 2014 at 4:40 PM
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• Scipio

  

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  To summarize my attempts, they usually go something like this;

  As the internet is to communication, Bitcoin is to Money.

  Download the software (Wallet for your phone), get some Bitcoin (Here have some of mine), go spend your Bitcoin at X website (I usually use Overstock but it depends on the person. Sometimes I’ll point to spendbitcoins.com)

  If they’re more liberal minded I’ll point them to something like Youtube’s - Money as Debt series. If they don’t care about that, then its usually: Its easy and convenient to carry, as it’s an app on your phone. Unlike credit cards you don’t need pre-approval or credit ratings. You can use it to support and tip your local artists. And, its all very low fees. If I really loose them, then “Have you heard how much investment money is going into Bitcoin lately? It’s like the internet all over again. More people are getting onboard everyday and you should too.” (A little “argumentum ad populum” never hurts, right?)

  Or you can always fall back on the "It's magic internet money".

  Posted on July 17, 2014 at 7:05 PM
  Last Edited: July 17, 2014 at 7:05 PM
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