I was in the process of joining a new gym the other day, and the lady asked me what I did. I paused momentarily and said that I was into cryptocurrency; '...you know? Like Bitcoin.'
Ah yes! At the mention of Bitcoin, the blank look that had crossed her face when I said the word cryptocurrency, vanished, and was replaced by one of recognition.
I don't know why I said that, I usually reply that I'm a writer, seeing as I don't have a job and earn money writing on Steemit.
However that doesn't really cover what I do, and so it got me musing over how my situation is representative of countless others.
New Definitions For A New Paradigm
For some reason the word entrepreneur has always bothered me, although it may be an apt description of what I am, as I dabble in many things and don't have a regular job.
However the term doesn't seem to cover it for me, perhaps if I was French and had a deeper understanding of the term, I wouldn't be saying that.
The fact is I'm not, and when I think of my situation, and others that I'm either aware of or not, it strikes me that a term is needed to describe people who inhabit these new crypto spaces.
Trader's Paradise
Perhaps the most obvious feature of this new world we live in, is that the availability of cryptos has made traders of us all.
Perhaps then it is cryptotrader I should put on a business card?
Or maybe as I mentioned before, Steemit Blogger might be what one who survives by posting on Steemit should call themselves?
However what about somebody who still leverages their Steemit account, yet doesn't use it to post articles? There are many examples of that, to accounts that only vote, to ones like our dear friend @neoxian whom uses his account as a bank.
A Matter Of Definition
Maybe none of this matters, perhaps the only reason for any kind of new definition is to have something to answer to the question of 'So what do you do?'
It could all be a social question, something to say when we're at parties, or maybe it matters beyond that. There are instances in the corporate world, whereby we legally have to define our statuses.
Or maybe that's the point, we are part of a world that places high value on decentralisation and anonymity, perhaps then having no definition of what it is we do, is the ultimate manifestation of those values.
What's In A Name?
I guess that's all well and good, but when it comes down to it, categorisation is a human necessity. When Prince Rogers Nelson decided that he no longer wanted to be called Prince, as he felt the name had become a symbol for corporate greed. We still called him The Artist Formerly Known As Prince, because, well, what the hell were we supposed to call him?!
Prince himself decided that he wanted his name to be a symbol. When asked what the name of the symbol was, he replied that it didn't have a name.
Hmmm, shall we call you that sign then?
No.
It's pretty difficult to write album reviews on an artist with no name . . .
I Am Crypto
For now, 'I do crypto stuff' is enough, and I guess the fun is, I can answer differently to the question, whilst remaining truthful, depending on my mood at the time.
So I guess the real question is; is this just an interesting social question; or does it reflect a greater change at large, and if so; what does it mean?
ARE YOU HAVING TROUBLE DEFINING WHAT YOU DO? OR MAYBE WHAT YOU DID BEFORE THE DAYS OF CRYPTO IS CHANGING INTO SOMETHING ELSE AND YOU CAN'T QUITE WORK OUT WHAT. AS EVER, LET ME KNOW YOUR THOUGHTS BELOW!
I find it fascinating how uneducated the world is on cryptocurrancy and the assumption that Bitcoin is the only coin that exists. It's not really their fault as the media's coverage of crypto seems to ignore Altcoins altogether.
You also make another interesting point and that is about the changing nature of work and the opportunities things like this present to the world. What do we call this new style of work as its still work. I do believe is here to stay. As I think it's a smarter way to work, however, not easier as it's all down to self control and consistency.
My main aim is to build something residual but a lot of people get caught up in the prestige of the positions, myself included. I thought i liked being in the corporate world, it's only now I'm co sider ing what I really want out of life that I realise that a nave is just that. It doesn't have to define you.
Work smarter not harder and define yourself however you want. It may not make sense to them now but only you need to be satisfied with what you do. I'm excited and cant wait to get to an undefined status where I'm succesfully working for myself.
This is funny and interesting, I actually face the same issue. It was easier to say i am a quality control officer when i was working in a biscuit factory but now, when people ask where do you work? or what do you do?, I pause then smile and reply I work from home. I use my phone and my laptop. You need to see the looks i get from people when I say that lool....then I quickly add that i write and edit then i get paid for doing that. I mention cryptocurrencies in most cases.
Honestly, I haven't even started defining who I am.
I'm at the very end of my Master's degree in Bioinformatics, yet I seem to be losing any desire to work in the field.
Oh, I still want to have a positive impact on the world, and Bioinformatics is still interesting, but the more I think about it, the more I realize I have no idea what I'm aiming to be.
It's certainly not helping that my incapacity to concentrate on more than one thing at a time - to the point where I forget to do the other things - has led me to the point where I now technically have a month and a half and still haven't found an Internship ! (Well... found one, but when I could finally talk with them over Skype 3 day ago, it turns out they didn't even think about the need for me to actually have some kind of salary...).
I've been playing with the idea of writing a post to talk about my personal problems, like my inability to concentrate on more than one or two big things that need doing, and how I feel like time just keeps disappearing on me, but I'm not sure if anybody would feel like reading such a post, or that it would bring something of value to the people here on Steemit...
Hell, my mind even dreamt up the fantasy of trying to calculate the amount of money I'd need to do the Internship, and then write a post describing every detail of the proposed internship (Deep Learning applied to hyperloop prediction for Lymphocytes, for those interested) and how the budget was calculated, and ask if the Steemit Community fancied creating a kind of Scholarship for me XD (yeah... kind of a daydream :) )
In any case, to at least properly answer your question:
I have no idea what I could define myself as in the future, or even presently, other than "someone who wants to make the world a better place and also not live in a cardboard box in the future".
How's that for a job description ;)
As for crypto... I haven't actually really gotten into trading yet. I've invested in a total of 3 ICO's, but I just keep getting distracted (Ok... ok... I keep forgetting XS) from actually trying to actively trade.
There's just soo many things to do XS
Are you crazy??? That would make a great post! I'm fairly sure I'd have something to say on the subject once you sketched out exactly where you felt you were having problems. Also, you won't be the only person in this predicament, so I think the post would bring a lot of value.
I think you're in a slightly different situation to me because you are in education, so it is quite natural to wonder about your future self, especially with such a complex subject. It's not like you're taking a course to become a gas engineer whereby it's pretty obvious what you'll be when you finish.
I know there are already coins out there like Folding Coin which is trying to marry the world of gene sequencing and cryptocurrency together. Perhaps your ultimate goal lies in that direction? :-)
Cg
I say always post and see what happens. You never know till you try...and then try some more!
I'll begin mentally prepping, figuring out how to say it and such.
Thanks for the encouragement, you're right.
You never know before you try.
And then you never know why it failed before you try again and change some of the parameters (said in a very scientific way I know XD).
Have an excellent day :)
Sure! Go ahead and post. It would be interesting to see what is involved in bioinformatics. I remember trying to read an O'Reilly book on the subject, but it was too deep for me. Maybe you could provide a little more light.
As an outsider looking in, I'd say you are living the dream. However I have also been an entrepreneur, but I do not know the history on that word (yet). What I do know is it is hard work to carve out a living on your own, and while I indicated that you could put "Living the Dream" on a business card, I also know there is more to it. I often found while Living the Dream, that I had much longer hours than with a typical job. However, at other times I had more leisure.
A quick peek at Wikipedia for the history of the word entrepreneur is interesting. It relates to commerce in France, and an adventurer in Britain. It is associated with classical economics including the work of Irish-French economist Richard Cantillon in the 17th and 18th centuries. Cantillon defined the term as a person who pays a certain price for a product and resells it at an uncertain price, i.e. crypottraders :-) .
It is interesting that In the 20th century entrepreneurship was studied by Austrian economist including Ludwig von Mises and Friedrich von Hayek.
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entrepreneurship#Historical_usage
Wikipedia goes on to sub-catorgize the term and it gets complicated, but I get the impression that you are an Entrepreneur ...maybe a Cryptopreneur
Great answer; as you correctly point out living the dream often requires long hours, no holidays or luxuries. I love the evolution of the word entrepreneur, and in some part of the descriptions I relate to the word, others I don't.
Thanks for the link, I think I may disappear down that particular rabbit hole for awhile :-)
Cg
I come across this problem all the time. I work full time in ICO consultancy, online course creation and now blogging on Steemit. When someone asks me what I do, I generally reply with "I'm an ICO consultant, so I help companies creating cryptocurrencies with marketing, PR and development".
If a person doesn't know what a cryptocurrency is, I then too mention Bitcoin and they instantly seem to know what I'm talking about.
We are in a new era of technology, where for the first time in history the early adopters are able to communicate seamlessly through medium such as Steemit. In a few years time, I'm sure that we will have a label for the work we do, but it's free reign with labelling your job until then!
Interesting; ICO consultant covers a lot, and at the same time encapsulates beautifully what you do. I think as you say, the boundaries haven't been set yet, and it's up to us where we want those borders to be. Maybe 2018 is the year I'll define myself in the crypto world :-)
Cg
That's it - a friend of mine pegged the term for me! Exactly, we're the pioneers of this industry! Well keep me updated if you come up with a definition - I'd be interested to hear :)
I wiggle and cannot see, sometimes underground and sometimes on a tree. I really don't want to be on a hook, and I become a person when combined with book. What am I?
worm
It's a bit of a struggle for those who have multiple interests and jobs to explain what they are doing or who do they want to become; especially when a stranger asks you , like you can't sit down there with them and explain all your areas of interests in a short time . Neither are you able to choose a single one of them and give a reply because most of your jobs or hobbies are equally important.So, when i am confronted upto such a question, my only reply is I do many a things.
Very true, I think I will expand that to, I do many things in crypto :-)
Cg
Aah, I feel the pain. I'm also trying to figure out how to explain my dealings to the people in my civil service work place of what I'm doing/what I'm going to do when I've completed my service, without looking like the guy down, lol.
Cryptocurrencies are so out of regular people's world view as for now. but in 2-3 years saying your dealing with crypto is probably pretty common. But as for that, in short occasions I'm just going with "I'm still thinking what I'll do (because that's partially true)" when I don't have a good opportunity to explain what's the point of being in crypto.
I saw my grandparents the other day, and of course, they were asking about my future plans which are pretty much unknown except that I'll be dealing with cryptocurrencies. So, I got to explain the really basic things that they can also understand, like "Bitcoin introduced the technology that enables the exchanging of value without a third party, like bank." But kudos to my grandma who's trying to keep up with today's youth :D
Big kudos to your grandma! Lol, I don't even try with my mum (87), I just say, I'm doing computer stuff, which is sufficiently confusing for her :-)
Cg
You pose a very interesting question; one that I get'nailed' with all the time. Let me explain: I was a high school teacher for years (clearly defined title but it comes with a lot of preconceptions...some true, some false). Then I met the man of my dreams, walked away from my job/pension and opened a restaurant. Crazy, some said, but still very definable. He then got sick(cancer), we sold everything, and moved from Vancouver to Mexico, where we now reside. Thru a friend, I found steemit in December and it is now my "job". When people ask me what I do, I give varying answers. Some days, it is simply "whatever I want"; other days, I try my best to explain crypto and steemit blogger/commenter:) Throw in a language barrier, and it then becomes simply "retired". I always find it interesting that we feel the need to define ourselves, and just simply can't "be". One thing I do know for sure is that when I'm at social gatherings, I no longer begin my small talk with, "what do you do?" :) Cheers!
It's funny isn't it, because the only time it really matters, is when we're at social situations, and for the odd form. The rest of the time, I think we can just be.
I think history will define us, at some point in the future a word for what we do will be invented and that's what we'll be in the eyes of the public I guess :-)
Cg
Yes I think you are correct...wouldn't it be really cool to be the one who comes up with the name??:) Perhaps that's another contest!
Thank you for the recognition of my post; I really do appreciate it! Cheers:)
It is sad but funny
I hope to make it as a writer like you did
Interesting that you bring up the topic of labeling in this new "cryptoworld."
My friend and I were just talking about how it is in the best interest of the crypto community at large to rebrand itself away from "cryptocurrency," especially since it implies that the application of every coin is to replace currency. Governments, Banks, and the public in general get all up in arms that every crypto project must be evil since it has 'currency' in its name.
As far as labeling for someone who say, makes a living through STEEMit, I like the idea of trying to normalize something like this- so saying I work in social media and clarifying that if the conversation progresses. Some people hear "crypto" and either think you are some loony anti-establishment person, or some techy nerd and its my experience that that leads to some false assumptions that affect how a person views you. By trying to normalize these new, growing applications with already existing things, helps to bridge the gap for people who don't fully understand the movement that is happening.
(Luckily for me I can still just tell people I am an engineer ;) )
As Rik would say, wubaluba dub dub!! :-)
Cg
Wow, the more I red this article, the more questions and thought arose in my head.
First, about the need for definition: I think that, as always, the best thing is finding the balance. Defining ourselves very precisely is quite hard and often useless as we often change/expand our areas of interest/business. On the other side, we have languages for a purpose - to put our thoughts into words so that we can explain them to other people.
Steemit Blogger sounded right to me until you gave excellent examples about some Steemians who aren't really bloggers almost at all. It made me realize that people who do post articles on Steemit aren't just bloggers. We also comment, upvote, and resteem other people's posts, as well as handle our crypto wallets.
"I do crypto stuff" is fun. :D
If I had to, I would define myself as a: freelance business plan writer and blogger who earns cryptocurrencies. I think that is explains my two business fields well.
P.S. Thank you for choosing my comment as a winner to your contest, I appreciate your initiative, we have too many "nice post my friend, please support my blog, yes my friend?".
Freelance business plan writer and cryptoblogger perhaps? :-)
No worries on the contest, I love debate and a flourishing comment section I do :-)
Cg
Cryptoblogger sounds really great, but it may lead to people believing that I'm blogging about cryptocurrencies, while I'm actually blogging mostly about life philosophy, psychology, morals & ethics, history, and some beauty. : )
Yes I didn't think about that, I suppose blogger will do for now :-)
Cg
Currency is numbers and numbers never end. If it takes currency to be powerful, your search for power will never end.
technically the search for "happiness" ends at 75,000$/year ;)
Above that all extra money does nada for happiness.
Of course in the real world people can manage to live on as little as 10$ a day and be perfectly content, and others have Millions in profits yearly and cry themselves to sleep for lack of meaning.
So yeah, the main takeaway is to find meaning in one's life :)
I sometimes have trouble defining myself
Working in It had manner is always be difficult to explain what I do. Crypto just complicates it further definitely!
beautifully written. thanx for sharing . really enjoyed reading it
Yeah, its true some people dont understand what you mean when u say cryptocurrency until you say bitcoin just cos that was the first digital currency that was widely acccepted!
I see a future where locals will have to put steemian behind our name before they address us( just like if you want to call a senator) . All I can wish is that nobody is left out, but that itself happens only in an ideal world. But in a world of reality like ours, doubters will persist. Do you believe this @cryptogee.
As for me, myself and @apiprincz, we believe!
Your first sentence made me think of a film not yet made, a bunch of people sitting around in robes . . ."Steemian Smith, how goes the trouble in the lowlands?"
"Well Steemian Jensen, well . . ."
:-)
Cg
It's funny how when you are self employed it's hard to put a name on what you do. You are the CEO, CFO, Creative Director, IT guy, Janitor, and every other job that is done at a regular company. Most don't see all the hats they wear because the jobs just get done without thought and without the need for recognition.
Been self employed almost my entire life, but other times while working for others I learned how much stock people put into their titles. Thrilled to get promotions which increase responsibility yet give almost no benefit to the person promoted yet they are full of pride...fools.
Titles mean nothing to me, instead I've always said show me the money. Money is how I keep score...well money and quality of life.
Ok you got me started and now I have my next blog post.
Awesome, glad I've inspired you, and can't wait to read it!
This got me as well, I remember years ago working at a sales company, and there were so many people who were desperate to get manager roles there. I remember working out that with the extra hours you were expected to do, you would actually get less money.
I told someone this one, and they looked at me as if I'd just suggested we go on a stag weekend holiday on Mars.
Brainwashed followers :-)
Cg
It's the sheep mentality, follow the heard and don't ask to many questions. They drill this into your head starting at a very young age in school. Schools are designed to make great employees, nothing more.
Ha. I know that feeling well!
I currently work for 4 different Universities simultaneously, as well as delivering courses for other organisations and working for myself. My situation is simpler though, I spent 25 years as a teacher, and all of my current roles either involve running course for other teachers (ie teaching), training new teachers (teaching again) or working with kids (hmm teaching?).
I also create content that teachers use (teaching again) and run workshops for adults (that'll be more teaching then).
As a result, when people ask me what I do, I tend to start off by saying "it's complicated" but then default to saying that I'm a teacher who teaches teachers, and occasionally kids, it's easier than trying to explain in detail.
I like the 'I'm a teacher of teachers' title, it sounds very Zen, very wise :-)
Cg
How about just, I am an investor". I mean we are. We mine Steem by creating or we buy in...we invest.. our time talents and money!
Very true, although I don't feel like an investor, whatever that means! :-)
Cg
@cryptogee: you mentioned that you “do crypto stuff”, which is not entirely satisfactory. “Cryptocurrencies” are just vehicles that get most of us where we want to go. If you drive all over Europe or the US as part of your job (to sell stuff, give speeches etc.), but you're not a professional lorry/car driver, you wouldn't say “I do car stuff”, would you? If you are not actively involved in refining the cryptographic algorithms needed for cryptocurrencies, do you really do “crypto stuff?”
As someone who's been around computers for a while, I'm not too happy with the word crypto, which originally referred to cryptography or cryptology. It has been pointed out that the defining feature of “cryptocurrencies” is the use of blockchains, rather than cryptographic signatures, which only serve to keep transactions (relatively) safe. The reason for the current poor performance of Bitcoin is a poorly-designed blockchain, which cannot keep up with the speed needed for efficient transactions.
Cryptocurrencies Aren't 'Crypto'
https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43nk9b/cryptocurrency-are-not-crypto-bitcoin
As the price of Bitcoin and Ethereum skyrocket, and more and more people who are unfamiliar with technology join in the craze, words start to lose their original and correct meaning.
Of course, language is constantly changing, and people make up their own meanings for words all the time.
A lot of people think that this handsome fellow is called Frankenstein, so it doesn't matter what readers of the novel think. He IS Frankenstein [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Frankenstein%27s_monster]
Generally accepted usage doesn't need to take account of what old fogies think. @cryptogee, maybe you could call yourself a “blockchain blogger/entrepreneur/etc.”?
Great reply and nice article linked, and I didn't know the definition: Crypto - one who adheres or belongs secretly to a party or group. I think that's interesting, as by that definition there are definitely 'cryptos' on Steemit.
Usages are interesting, and I've been knocking an article around in my head for about a week now, I think I'm ready to write after this comment :-)
Thanks, and great pic of Frankenstein('s monster!) by the way :-)
Cg
Resteemed to promote further discussion.
@cryptogee! this is a really interesting topic. It is more difficult to give us a name since steemit is not yeah well know. talking about my occupation i will prefer be called a Steemian.