Bitcoin Forum

http://www.torontosun.com/2014/03/14/bitcoin-class-action-seeks-500m-compensation-for-canadian-users

I was just reading this article about the class-action lawsuit against Mt. Gox being filed in Ontario. They have a poll asking if one would ever buy bitcoins. Over 5000 voters and 95% voted no, while only 3% voted yes.

And now you see the proper distribution of IQ levels in humanity.

And you simultaneously see why your whole Bitcoin is going to be worth a sh*t ton of money in 10 years.

This is only good news.  Because as the 95% sheeples talk trash and cower in fear, those with IQ's over 100 actually did a lil reading and are watching the paradigm change take hold all over the world.

By the time the 95% sheeples realize what its worth, it will be way too late for them to make any money on it, and you'll be buying yachts.

-B-

This isn't how IQ scores work.

A population with 95% of people under 100 is impossible, because 100 is defined as the average of a population. It will always be 50:50.

More proof of how much damage Gox has done.
Things will get better as time passes...

I'd like to see a poll like that about the internet in 1991 or a GSM poll in 1992

Well, no, not quite.

It could be 99:1 under 100. Or it could be 0.01:99.99 and still average 100.

And..... thats not how average works.... wow

Now i know what your IQ score is.  ::)

Hey man go easy on the sheeple :P

Maybe the 95% have never heard of bitcoin before reading this article. I know if the first thing I ever read about bitcoin was an exchange losing $500 million worth of them, I'd probably dismiss it as something too risky to invest in at the very least, or a flat-out scam. Plus most of them would only invest in bitcoin if the government tells them to :D

http://moblog.net/media/k/e/i/keithdesantis/sheeple-magazine-cover-junejuly-2011.jpg

EDIT: Maybe the world is too dumb for Bitcoins (https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=505454.0)

The article covers a somewhat negative topic of bitcoin... bankruptcy and a lawsuit, both of which are turn-offs to most people. NPR also covered the mtgox fiasco a couple of times and the comments were generally negative and ignorant of bitcoin, but still received quite a number of up-votes... Basically the peanut gallery heckling something they don't comprehend.

That's fine though... Once ASIC's hit retail at your local Best Buy, it'll be a good time to be holding while the peanut gallery is still watching from the sidelines.

Also keep in mind it's a newspaper website; Many free-thinking people would not have any reason to visit that site.

To be fair, this newspaper used to be the biggest Rob Ford supporter, and he's not exactly the smartest cookie in the jar ;)

Context of the article skews the poll results.

That's like first showing Detroit to non-Americans and then asking what they think of the US.

Of course most Americans would say no because the US Dollar's value is stable for now. However, if hyper inflation or deflation hits like in Venezuela, Argentina, Greece, or Cyprus hits, people's eyes will be opened the hard way. The smart ones see things before others do and that's how most people get rich.

This was exactly how I was thinking about the threads title...
I hope we're right ;)

Actually it is.

IQ tests were designed to plot human intelligence across a normal distribution. The creators placed 100 at the very center, set 15 to be the standard deviation, and from there were able to describe all levels of intelligence relative to the 'average intelligence'.

You're assuming that the poll takers had a normal distribution of IQ. If people with a lower IQ were more likely to answer the poll, then you could in fact have 100% of the people say they wouldn't buy bitcoins and yet their average IQ could be under 100. For a small sample size of 5000 I'd doubt they had a normal distribution of IQ's....not even accounting for the probability that people that would answer such a poll are more likely to have a lower IQ IMO.

Great now you just removed all my doubts..... yup your score is pretty low. Go take some Statistic class, you're talking to a person with a degree in Actual Science.

Edit: i dont feel like reading your reply again so i'm gonna end this. Its easy for you to read and copy some txt on website without actually understand what it is. Avg or mean of the normal distribution is 100, with the standard deviation is 15 means :

95% of the population is within 70-130 (double SD). So yes its possible to have 95% below 100. Its not "50/50" like some "gambler" when they think of avg.

3 % ain´t bad, actually.

if 3 % of the world population would buy, bitcoin for 100 dollars that would make 

216 000 000 mio users and additional market cap of $ 21 600 000 000


ccmf todamoon alert...

 Most people don't have the time to learn about BTC and all they hear is bad news. I wouldn't call someone stupid because they won't invest without due diligence.

So 5% would? Cool, 50x increase from now.

Ok, that's true. But what about people making uninformed opinions?

without the 95% of literally brainwashed dumbasses turning to bitcoin, I doubt there'll be the capital coming in in a way that's needed to see any real price rise.

lol its funny cuz its technically true

The upside potential implied is truly mind boggling.

This.
And also most people are not very good at predicting their own future actions.

Lets assume 90% of the yes voters already own BTC.

And 20% of maybe -> yes.

Now 0.7%

I believe that much more.

You bring up a good point. I think we could definitely hit that market cap within this year. Most of those no voters probably read 'digital currency' and think that bitcoin is like MMO game gold that can be farmed/mined.

Exactly.  3% of the population buying bitcoin represents more than an order of magnitude increase in the user base.  This would push the price up tremendously, increase the public's knowledge of bitcoin, and add legitimacy (there'd be a better chance that someone whose opinion you respect is involved with bitcoin).

Next time the poll is taken, 20% will say they'd purchase bitcoin.  

+1

came here to say this. it's called poisoning the well.

--arepo

Then again, Detroit has never been "The most popular...anything", and is a much smaller part of the US than Gox was of Bitcoin. So, bad analogy

Just be aware that the Toronto Sun is a trashy little right-wing tabloid. Polling its readers is like polling the John Birch Society, NRA or KKK. This is a "newspaper" that actually supported Rob Ford. Of course their readers will have a lower IQ and include more luddites than average.
____

Thanks for alerting me to the Ontario-based class-action suit against Gox. I had a ticket open at Gox about the 49 coins they wouldn't let me move to cold storage in early September, that they said had been withdrawn on Sept 29.

I don't know if my account there was hacked or if  they simply were stealing my coins, but I just filled out the forms to join the C-A suit. Any return would be nice at this time.

Thanks again.

I have three degrees in 'Actual Science'.

This is a very frustrating discussion. In order to properly explain this we need visuals.

You don't even need to read this reply, I just wanted to say that it isn't really cool or polite to be so dismissive and judgmental.

Additionally, the bolded part illustrates the problem. It is mathematically impossible to create a data set that simultaneously: Is normally distributed, has the average at 100, a standard deviation of 15, and has 95% of the population below the average.

I defy anyone to produce the above data set. It is mathematically and statistically impossible.

"never" is a long time  ;D

So because the majority of people are unwilling to invest in a high risk commodity, that makes them unintelligent? You must be a very interesting person in real life.

The commodity itself is not high risk. It is actually extremely low risk so far as simple investing goes. The risk lies with the user. When security falls on the individual, and most individuals are clueless about online security, they falsely perceive bitcoin as being risky when the flaw lies with themselves.

And therefore we're to be the top 5% while the other 95% is figuring out how to properly store their coins :)

What is simple investing? Is that just throwing your money away and hoping for the best? Because that's what bitcoin is. Anyone who invested late November has already lost nearly 50% of their holdings, but bitcoin is "extremely low risk" right?

I don't know how you can say that. "Don't invest more than you're willing to lose" is essentially the mantra around here. Maybe you've just had too much kool-aid from the team bitcoin pitcher?

Right.  Do not make the pandemic error of confusing volatility with risk.

Bitcoin doesn't rise in percentages. It rises in orders of magnitude. Anything between the old ATH and the most recent one is, for my purposes, the same price. Won't matter what they were bought for once we have the next rally which will find a new low somewhere north of $1200.

It's funny how the bitcoiners will soon start to blame everyone else that they aren't buying. It doesn't have anything to do with their inability to create an trustworthy market system, no sir. Everyone are just stupid, that they aren't interested in buying something this risky, just so your coins would cost a little more.

Not a lot of people buy gold and silver either.

IF we went back 20 years I wonder what the polls would say for using the internet

You mean that place where all the criminals and child pornographers hang out?

I guess the fact that a small percentage of people are open to buying right now is a good thing. ;)

I would think that once Wall Street starts throwing money in, and the ETF's start to open then people might be "investing" because their financial advisers encourage them to "throw a little in" to "high risk" investments.  This will be the major catalyst to growth.  

Having spoken to some wealthy friends they respond by saying, "I will call my fiance guy and see what he says."  Of course they have been saying "stay away."  It has been considered too risky or they have not seen the benefits themselves but this will all change fairly soon.

Or if some celebrity says that they made tons of money, then the sheep will follow.  So far only a handful have admitted dabbling in it, Ashton Kutcher, Snoop Dog, Richard Branson.  Perhaps as more start bragging about it, the "lower IQ masses" will join in.  Or, it needs to be in a blockbuster movie of some sort.   ;D

More proof on how damaged most people involved in bitcoin are, actually. Why? Because driven of get-rich-quick desires, most fucked up bitcoin's image. And pricks like Mark and Zhoutong did most of the harm.

However, I do not care. It's a certainty that MtGox won't be the last and frankly, it's just karma as long as we're using a decentralized protocol in a centralized way.

Do not forget: many early adopters are just random looser geeks. Myself included. Bitcoin taught many about economy, pshycology, money etc. Myself included.

True enough might see surveys on what is the internet and then a bunch of it must be used for evil lol.
Or wonderful archives like this gem

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JUs7iG1mNjI

Whatever....them 'low IQ levels' means that Bitcoin aint doing jack shit, for quite some time to come.

I am sure that you will be able to console yourself for the fact that your favourite asset isn't going to be performing very well across the medium term, in the knowledge that Bitcoin isn't performing because everyone else (who has there money in better things) is too stupid to buy Bitcoin.


Hooray for you, you above average IQ fkn genius.

Hold dem coins boy!

Generally calling people 'sheeple' and saying they are below average IQ just because they disagree with you is not a great way to get them on side.

From the Western general public's point of view bitcoin solves very few problems and introduces many.  It's difficult to buy for most people.  It's not like you can walk to a corner shop and buy some.  Send money to an exchange?  Many exchanges have folded and taken everyone's money with them.  What does bitcoin buy that you can't buy more easily with your local currency?  Very few items.

The people who can appreciate what bitcoin is and what it can do are those that have had bank accounts confiscated (Cyprus), ridiculous ATM withdrawal limits and currency controls (Ukraine, Venezuela, etc), or people who lost life savings through hyperinflation (myriad countries).  Those people are generally not the ones clicking polls on a Canadian web site.

You forgot to mention that their mayor is a Crack Smoking Pothead  ;D

Toronto Mayor Rob Ford
http://rabble.ca/sites/rabble/files/node-images/rob_ford_2.jpg

5% is a lot actually

So now we are taking info from The Sun ?!?!?!

i would add "mass media" to your list. bitcoin taught me a lot about media. about how people with no clue write articles.

Maybe not in bullion form. But the majority have something that contains gold or silver; electronics, jewellery, vehicles, etc.

Apparently that's what people go with
Although I guess if that poll is accurate not many sun users are into bitcoin lol

People only have so much capacity for absorbing new information.  Most people have neither the time, motivation, guts, money, etc. to "invest" in Bitcoin.  The general public thinks that Bitcoin is dead/crashing right now due to the Gox news.  Hell, recently a well-educated, intelligent colleague of mine was inquiring about the value of my Bitcoin holdings after the "huge crash".  He was under the impression that Bitcoins were going for around $100.  It took a few minutes to explain the actual situation to him.  Now take the general public, less educated and less intelligent than he is and fed by equally dumb news correspondents.  Well, it'll take a lot more than a few minutes to explain the situation properly and chances are at the end of the discussion, they'll be even more confused than when they started.  Shrug.