Steemit Psychology | Incredible Insights into Human Behavior!

One of the unintended consequences -- or benefits, depending upon your perspective -- of Steemit is that the network is a microcosm of the human condition. How people interact and engage Steemit broadly reflects psychological and sociological phenomenon in the "real world."

A key insight engendered by the Steemit platform is how humans deploy wealth and power. Clearly, a difference of behavior is evident between those who have "nothing to lose" against those who routinely leverage their wealth and power to generate increasingly greater rewards.

The Road to Hell is Paved with Good Intentions

Originally, Steemit was created as a means by which content creators could holistically support one another. However, in this decentralized system, the aim was for only the best content to rise to the top, while that which required little to no effort -- such as spamming -- would fall by the wayside.

Is that how Steemit turned out? More and more, it's becoming evident that rather than catalyzing a social utopia, Steem has become, again, a microcosm of the underlying world. While people are not getting killed in the network per say, we still find the same vitriol and corruption that eventually fails all human societies.

Rather than chart a new way forward, Steemit instead became a reflection of our broader selves. Money and power find ways of corrupting even the most well-intentioned. While a few elites, or whales, live up to the Steemit ideology, the majority simply use the network for their own personal gain.

Is Decentralization Really the Answer?

I believe Steemit has taught us the futility of mankind. Though we intend and strive for perfection, it's simply not attainable. Like a festering wound, man is perhaps destined to destroy himself.

Centralized authority was forwarded to address and control this sin of humanity. As history shows, centralization leads to the corruption of a few. But decentralization may in fact lead to the corruption of the many.

Indeed, Steemit has demonstrably proven that decentralization is not the answer! If it were, Steem users would not be unfairly demonized and downvoted out of the system. If man was fair, we would have open and reasonable dialogue, not warfare simply on the basis of a difference of opinion.

Profound Insights

While people approach Steem as a revenue source or an alternative social media network, it is so much more. This is a reflection of human dynamism, and we can learn so much about our collective condition, if we would only listen.

Unfortunately, some viewers may take this post as a criticism of the Steemit network. No! In fact, the problem is not with Steemit, but with humanity itself. Steem only forces us to the mirror.

Whether we choose to look and learn is entirely up to us.