Bitcoin is not really a cult or a religion, it's more of a mind virus, very similar to social justice, transgenderism, COVID hysteria, climate change, and other contagious social belief systems. Maxis literally talk about getting "orange pilled" and seeing the world entirely different after that, as if the scales have been lifted from their eyes. And just like a climate change zealot comes to view everything in the world through the lens of climate change, so the Bitcoin zealot views the world through the lens of Bitcoin. Our own
@chance vought is the perfect example of this phenomenon, where an intelligent and otherwise normal person becomes completely obsessed with an idea and it radically alters their perception of the world.
What's more interesting to me is the question of what makes individuals susceptible to various types of mind viruses, and whether there are different avenues of susceptibility. Bitcoin, for example, seems to prey on idealism and greed. If you have a high amount of one or the other in your personality, you are probably more susceptible to the Bitcoin mind virus. There also seems to be a strong undercurrent of arrogance and a burning desire to, essentially, revenge themselves upon the non-believers among Bitcoin maxis (their revenge, in this case, will be executed by becoming fabulously wealthy and lording themselves over the non-HODLers in the future). These types are clearly visible in this thread, with chance vought expressing idealism,
@Australia Sucks representing pragmatic greed, and
@Blade Runner voicing a sort of vindictive fury coupled with extreme arrogance and a desire to punish those he views as wrong/evil. All have different psychologies and motivations for HODLing Bitcoin, but all fell victim to the same mind virus.
Bitcoin is really the ultimate memecoin, in the sense that it is just an idea shared by those who own it. The idea, or meme, in this case, is that there is something special about Bitcoin that makes it valuable. That's it. That's all Bitcoin is: a shared idea, a shared
delusion, really, because even maxis must admit that at root the Bitcoin network is just a decentralized ledger. But they believe that there is something extremely valuable in that, in just the same way that many insane people believe that men can become women, or that the Earth is soon going to become uninhabitable due to climate change. And these beliefs can become so intense that they dictate behavior. A transgender zealot will happily remove his own genitals, a climate change zealot will sell his car and ride a bike everywhere, and a Bitcoin zealot will trade his life savings for entries on a distributed spreadsheet. And so it goes.
