Co-workers talking about bitcoin.... so much misinformation still today

[~Coinseeker~]

It's a conundrum.

If the masses don't believe in bitcoin, they won't use it, and it won't go up in value, it might fail.

You could possibly not be more wrong if your life depended on it. What the masses think in March 2014 is irrelevant.

See what the masses will think in March 2016, that's what's relevant. Stop worrying and hold like a man.

You can't have mass adoption without the masses.  Not sure why that's so tough for some to reconcile.  

[notbatman]

While talking to a co-worker about Bitcoins I explained to him that there are no Bitcoins; they're entirely virtual. He thought I was insane.

As far as I can tell 99% of people seem to believe that Bitcoin is a fly-by-night company run by drug dealers who issue some kind of digital funny money as part of a ponzi scam.

Silk Road and Mr Fancy Coffee have done quite a lot to back up this belief, I suspect there will be quite a few more "I told you so"s to come.

Dirty, filthy money...

[Dafar]

did any one of you watch the fucking idiot on bloomberg tv, today, talking about bitcoins?
what a fucking idiot.
The beautiful Ms. Chang was talking to this guy about bitcoin and his words were as stupid as they get.
He obviously knew nothing about bitcoin and didn't want to know.
He was more interested in playing his fucking guitar than talking about the coin and what he knew about it.
Poor Ms. Emily didn't have the know how to as him the tough questions, either.
In the end, his comments were "Who really cares (about bitcoins) ?"

Well, dumbass, the interviewers did or they wouldn't have asked about it. You didn't know shit about it or you wouldn't have said "who cares". And obviously it is negative if YOU don't know shit about it, huh,smart ass?
What a fucking idiot...........

As stupid as I am, I could have given a better interview (about bitcoin's future) than that idiot......

These guys went around San Francisco, trying to find vendors who accept bitcoin.
The very first one they asked, said they did.
The next few didn't, but what fucking laundrymat is going to accept bitcoins for their washers, when they use quarters.
What you think someone is going to put a 600 dollar bitcoin in the machine to wash a load of cloths?
How fucking stupid are you?
At least most of them knew what it was, asshole.
They said they asked a bunch of kids (teenagers) about bitcoins and they all knew about it, and were apparently excited about it.
But the dumbass you were interviewing knew nothing about it.
Interview the teenagers, not the fucking idiot who was at  the interview table. He only wanted to play his fucking guitar, which we all know has a lot to do with stocks and bonds and commodities.

Chang does that a lot.
She never gets down to the nitty gritty and asks these idiots she interviews the tough questions.
When someone says "I don't want to talk about that, then by god ask them the question again, because now you have hit a nerve and they won't discuss it because they 1) are hiding something, or 2) don't know jack shit about it.

But this was one of the stupidest thigs I have seen her do, yet.
She is SUPPOSED to be talking about technologies.
But today she had her head up her pretty little ass.

Yes, that video pissed me off. How the fuck does he say "who cares" so many times?? It has potential to be one of the best investments of our generation... obviously people care!! He was a complete douche

When Gox went down my phone started ringing. There were a lot of "I told you so" and a couple "Sorry you lost all your coins"

Not sure why some people are so happy to see others fail. They seemed so happy that they were right and I was wrong about Bitcoin.  Little did they know.

It's very simple. People do not want to take the risk by investing in bitcoin, but they don't want to feel like they missed out on a huge opportunity either so they hope it fails. That's why people who don't know about bitcoin are so negative about it.

I feel like it's in the best interests of everybody involved in the conversation if I explain things.

So they were talking down about Bitcoin because they heard some rumor somewhere. Had you just said "well, I use Bitcoins whenever I can because it's easier than a credit card, I don't have to type in my personal information, and if the merchant gets hacked like Target did; the hackers won't get any personal data on me. Just because one business that trades Bitcoin over in Japan files bankruptcy doesn't mean Bitcoin failed, I didn't do business with them anyways. I use CoinBase, an American company. Bitcoin is something actually worth investigating, you should look at it with an open mind..."

Then I would say, "It seems like everybody has that great missed opportunity in life where if they could just go back, it would change everything. I think that's what Bitcoin might be to a lot of people who don't know what it really is."

I've changed the opinions of 5 people so far just by explaining logic. That's 5 people that would otherwise trash talk Bitcoin and discourage others, but now use it and support it.

That's a good way of explaining it. But see, I don't like to recommend anything that I am not 100% about... I rather come back to my friends/co-workers a year later and be like "remember bitcoin? boy it's over $2000 now... I'm really glad I bought some last year"

[FeedbackLoop]

That's a good way of explaining it. But see, I don't like to recommend anything that I am not 100% about... I rather come back to my friends/co-workers a year later and be like "remember bitcoin? boy it's over $2000 now... I'm really glad I bought some last year"

There's more to Bitcoin than price action and speculation.

[bbeagle]

When Gox went down my phone started ringing. There were a lot of "I told you so" and a couple "Sorry you lost all your coins"

Not sure why some people are so happy to see others fail. They seemed so happy that they were right and I was wrong about Bitcoin.  Little did they know.

Try to step in their shoes.

They think, and still do, that Bitcoin is a scam. They resent that you tried to pull them into this scam. They are happy that they were right and still have their money. They want to prove it to you that they were right and you should get out. By continuing to believe in Bitcoin, they think you're a brainless cultist idiot, and they are basically saying they don't want to listen to you.

They're NOT happy you failed - instead, they are happy that THEY were not conned, and are saying 'I told you so' to the con-artist (you).

Now - your opinion is completely 180 degrees from what they think, and you think what they think is ridiculous. So, in trying to get them to open up about Bitcoin in the future, know where they are coming from. It's going to be a hard struggle to get them back, especially since now they don't trust you (not your fault, the medias, but fault doesn't really matter).

[alani123]

A friend of mine is a cashier. While he was able to understand what bitcoin is because he already was familiar with most of the economy related terms I used while explaining; he just couldn't believe such a thing is possible.

Maybe he was afraid that he's going to lose his job to a piece of software.  

[Dafar]

That's a good way of explaining it. But see, I don't like to recommend anything that I am not 100% about... I rather come back to my friends/co-workers a year later and be like "remember bitcoin? boy it's over $2000 now... I'm really glad I bought some last year"

There's more to Bitcoin than price action and speculation.

Yes there's a lot more to bitcoin. But for now I only care about the price and how much profit I make.

[bbeagle]

Yes there's a lot more to bitcoin. But for now I only care about the price and how much profit I make.

That's all that 95% of the people are into bitcoins for - profiting - which is why bitcoin is going to fail, and nobody is going to make money.

Most people love what they do (like designing a web site). A side-effect is making lots of money. If you just care about the making lots of money aspect, but don't care about what crud you're making (Mt Gox, exchange scams, others losing money, long bitchain), then what you're doing is doomed. People here will soon realize it.

[jbreher]

That's a good way of explaining it. But see, I don't like to recommend anything that I am not 100% about... I rather come back to my friends/co-workers a year later and be like "remember bitcoin? boy it's over $2000 now... I'm really glad I bought some last year"

You don't need to recommend anyone buy bitcoin in order to clear up factual misstatements.

I'm sure you didn't mean it, but your words make it seem that you have a desire to cruelly taunt those who don't do as you do.

[Buffer Overflow]

That's all that 95% of the people are into bitcoins for - profiting - which is why bitcoin is going to fail, and nobody is going to make money.

Profit drives new bitcoin services, utilities and infastructure.

Making profit is not a bad thing.

[pungopete468]

That's a good way of explaining it. But see, I don't like to recommend anything that I am not 100% about... I rather come back to my friends/co-workers a year later and be like "remember bitcoin? boy it's over $2000 now... I'm really glad I bought some last year"

I agree, never recommend it to somebody who doesn't know what it is. If you look over what I wrote again, I suggested that they research it with an open mind; never once did I recommend they buy it. Challenging somebody to learn the truth about something is beneficial for everybody, especially when you insinuate that they've been misled...

Most people will be intrigued because people generally don't like to be misled...

[IamCANADIAN013]

When Gox went down my phone started ringing. There were a lot of "I told you so" and a couple "Sorry you lost all your coins"

Not sure why some people are so happy to see others fail. They seemed so happy that they were right and I was wrong about Bitcoin.  Little did they know.

Try to step in their shoes.

They think, and still do, that Bitcoin is a scam. They resent that you tried to pull them into this scam. They are happy that they were right and still have their money. They want to prove it to you that they were right and you should get out. By continuing to believe in Bitcoin, they think you're a brainless cultist idiot, and they are basically saying they don't want to listen to you.

They're NOT happy you failed - instead, they are happy that THEY were not conned, and are saying 'I told you so' to the con-artist (you).

Now - your opinion is completely 180 degrees from what they think, and you think what they think is ridiculous. So, in trying to get them to open up about Bitcoin in the future, know where they are coming from. It's going to be a hard struggle to get them back, especially since now they don't trust you (not your fault, the medias, but fault doesn't really matter).

I see what you are saying, but I never really tried to pull them in.  I just tried to correct them on some bad information that they read and believed.  These are the same people who had a similar reaction when I bought a house. There attitude suddenly changed and some went on how I was making a huge mistake. The first year I bought, the market dropped a bit. They were the first to throw it in my face.

Move forward 3 years and it was the best decision I ever made. Trust me, some people just want to see others crash and burn.

When Gox went down my phone started ringing. There were a lot of "I told you so" and a couple "Sorry you lost all your coins"

Not sure why some people are so happy to see others fail. They seemed so happy that they were right and I was wrong about Bitcoin.  Little did they know.

It's very simple. People do not want to take the risk by investing in bitcoin, but they don't want to feel like they missed out on a huge opportunity either so they hope it fails. That's why people who don't know about bitcoin are so negative about it.

Perfect way to describe some of my friends/relatives reactions when I bought my house.

[Buffer Overflow]

When Gox went down my phone started ringing. There were a lot of "I told you so" and a couple "Sorry you lost all your coins"

Was the "I told you so" about Bitcoin in general, just Gox or both? Because Gox and Bitcoin are entirely different things.

[Dafar]

Yes there's a lot more to bitcoin. But for now I only care about the price and how much profit I make.

That's all that 95% of the people are into bitcoins for - profiting - which is why bitcoin is going to fail, and nobody is going to make money.

Most people love what they do (like designing a web site). A side-effect is making lots of money. If you just care about the making lots of money aspect, but don't care about what crud you're making (Mt Gox, exchange scams, others losing money, long bitchain), then what you're doing is doomed. People here will soon realize it.

Not really. We're in the early stages of bitcoin and the infrastructure and merchant acceptance still has a long way to go. Bitcoin is designed to counter inflation which by nature is supposed to make it a good store of value and promote users to save. On the other hand when the price appreciates people gain the incentive to spend because it feels like "free money". That's what I see as the genius paradox and idea behind bitcoin, and why it has potential to succeed. When the infrastructure is built and bitcoin is convenient to use for things I want to buy, like it is meant to be, then I will spend my bitcoins. Until then the incentive of profiting is what's really drawing the newcomers in... you really have no room to judge people on why they are involved with crypto currency. I'm not here for "the other 6 billion", I'm not andreas antonopoulos.

That's a good way of explaining it. But see, I don't like to recommend anything that I am not 100% about... I rather come back to my friends/co-workers a year later and be like "remember bitcoin? boy it's over $2000 now... I'm really glad I bought some last year"

You don't need to recommend anyone buy bitcoin in order to clear up factual misstatements.

I'm sure you didn't mean it, but your words make it seem that you have a desire to cruelly taunt those who don't do as you do.

No I have no desire to taunt.. but I do hope I get the opportunity (meaning bitcoin continues to succeed). Instead of educating my co-workers with hypotheticals, I'd rather educate them with results

Was the "I told you so" about Bitcoin in general, just Gox or both? Because Gox and Bitcoin are entirely different things.

Probably bitcoin in general. Even my friend sent me BS articles on how "bitcoin has collapsed" because of Mt Gox. Most people saw that news as a failure of bitcoin, and this is all thanks to the media blowing it out of proportion. The common perception is pretty negative right now.. Gox really caused a huge setback for bitcoin in 2014 no matter how you look at it

[Lauda]

Oh yes, it's CONFIRMED!

Satoshi's copy of bitcoin-QT has a big red "shutdown" button he can press whenever he wants.  

I wouldn't be surprised if the media or some people start talking after reading your post. 

[tkbx]

You never need to worry about Bitcoin being "shut down". Even if use of Bitcoin was made punishable by execution by chainsaw without trial everywhere in the world, it would take years to stop the network.

[leopard2]

97% of all money is book money, thus virtual too.

[Buffer Overflow]

Even if use of Bitcoin was made punishable by execution by chainsaw without trial everywhere in the world, it would take years to stop the network.

I would stop using it immediately. Same as everyone else.

[IamCANADIAN013]

When Gox went down my phone started ringing. There were a lot of "I told you so" and a couple "Sorry you lost all your coins"

Was the "I told you so" about Bitcoin in general, just Gox or both? Because Gox and Bitcoin are entirely different things.

It was an "I told you so" about Bitcoin.  They assumed that when gox hit the news about going under that Bitcoin died on the spot or something. They assumed gox and Bitcoin were the same thing. 

[glendall]

OP as someone who actually knows about bitcoin, you should take it upon yourself to dispel the wrong notions people, like your co-workers, have about bitcoin.  It really does help the bitcoin economy if we clear up all the FUD people have.

Its an uphill battle sometimes, when even a lot of the news stories on bitcoin are often wrong or hit-pieces, but our efforts do add up and they count.

For myself, in any given 10 people I tell about bitcoin:  5 of them, it will be completely over their head, 4 will not be interested or be convinced it must be some sort of scam, but about 1 of the 10 will be really intrigued and become a supporter, or at least interested enough to read a up on it and figure it out.