838
Been there (lemmy.today)
submitted 1 month ago by to c/memes@lemmy.world
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[–] 98 points 1 month ago (4 children)

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  • [–] 27 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    That's such a Gemini thing to say.

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    • [–] 196 points 1 month ago* (37 children)

    In the same way I feel bad for all the women out that had to put up with conversations about crypto for the last decade, the astrology for dudes

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  • [–] 91 points 1 month ago (29 children)

    Crypto really is the astrology of white guys isn't it.

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  • [–] 15 points 1 month ago (21 children)

    I remember when in my undergrad almost my entire class spent their entire second year learning about blockchain and attending events related to it, and I was proud of myself for playing videogames all day instead. Nobody even talks about blockchain anymore. It's a waste of compute, and most things built on top of it are a grift. There must be some useful cases, but none I can think of. Maybe someone with more experience in Industry can.

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  • [–] 13 points 1 month ago (10 children)

    This might be controversial but hear me out:

    The idea of an international independent currency that can be made use of anonymously and therefore not controlled by anyone is a great idea.

    Most smaller coins are just scams, reimplementing the same protocols that earlier schemes did and eventually adopting a clear pump & dump characteristic.

    However, I personally believe that bigger coins like etherium that don't fold as quickly and stick around are genuinely a good idea.

    Moreover, there's use cases where transactions are tracked for different systems, for example tracking an interconnected energy grid and usage of households.

    And then you also have to consider that block-chains themselves can just be used to keep a fulsome record of something, with the main goal of decentralizing control over that record. I'm sure there will be quite a few use cases for it that make more sense and it's quite a shame the stigma of crypto got attached to it.

    If you wanna learn more about how block chains are actually researched, you have to dive into academic publications, but then you will find out scientists have a very different vision for this technology which is way more useful. And for the sake of actual science, I hope they don't get buried under the stigma of crypto, because oftentimes these are just very smart people with lots of passion for something that they genuinely see value in.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (9 children)

    First of all, it's not guaranteed that it'll say "not controlled by anyone". For example the arms race of something like bitcoin mining leads to mining becoming unprofitable to anyone not building massive mining farms. The efficiency of mining leads to bigger control over the proof of work so there's a natural centralization of control happening with proof of work. And proof of stake isn't saving anyone either because that just opens the door to a different kind of centralization of control. Give it another 50 years and currencies like etherium will also be centralized. With all of the negatives and none of the benefits of centralization.

    And that's the other point, I don't think an internationally independent currency is that great of an idea. At least I don't think it's better than a currency with a central authority. For example central authorities manage the inflation (or in case of crypto currencies the deflation) of the currency to keep is stable and usable. Central authority also keeps oversight of illegal activities, the lack of that oversight is why crypto is popular with the black market. You also get certain consumer-protections which you're unlikely to get with crypto because there's no authority to enforce them, for example if your account gets hacked or stolen you're fucked while banks would freeze your account and reverse transactions. And of course there's taxation, which I can't imagine how that would even happen with crypto.

    I'm not saying blockchain itself is a useless technology, but I have don't believe it's usable as a currency. I also have some serious reservations in its use elsewhere because I have a hard time imagining where it would be better than a traditional database solution.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago* (8 children)

    Yes, a centralized currency can have consumer protections. What about the flip side, protection from the central bank? A central bank can restore your balance under fraud, they can also fraudulently steal your balance. Central banks also get to dictate who/what you get to spend your money on. Which is why blockchain is popular with those who oppose fascists. The government doesn’t like Wikileaks, well, they get to block payments.

    Countries manage currencies for their own ends, not for the benefit on its citizens. Plus, how much violence is the central bank willing to inflict to fulfill its ends? Your whole post ignores the long history of truly awful behavior from governments in order to keep the power of money under their control.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago* (7 children)

    What about the flip side, protection from the central bank? A central bank can restore your balance under fraud, they can also fraudulently steal your balance.

    I'll make a very simple argument here, don't elect corrupt officials who use institutions meant to work for you against you. You may not like that argument and that's fine because I'm not here to argue that argument. Instead we're going to discuss what is you argument when the centralized cabal of your blockchain currency steals your balance? Outside of forking the chain and hoping it gets accepted you've got nothing. You don't get to choose who takes over and you have no way of holding them accountable.

    Before you claim this is impossible go look up Steem. That chain got hard forked into Steem and Hive and of the two Steem, which experienced a hostile takeover, is doing better than Hive, the community fork. People who opposed Steem got cut from the chain. Now, if crypto was a real currency for the sake of stability one of the two forks would have to be chosen (otherwise you end up with fork after fork), who is to say your money won't just get wiped because you ended up on the wrong side of the fork? Who is going to give you that money back? The same way your money gets wiped whatever transaction you want to do can also get wiped if whoever controls the chain decides so.

    And I'll reiterate. My point wasn't that FIAT currencies are the best thing ever, my point was that they're better than the blockchain alternative because you end up with all the bad of the FIAT currency with none of the good.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago*

    Also, crypto and blockchain has an ENORMOUS negative ecological and energetic impact; I think that AIs are worse on that, but I'd still say that if AIs are the number one, cryptos are the number two.

    And then you have the worst part: incel cryptobros, the face of crypto. And with them, lots of scams (even within stablished coins), sects and all kind of grotesque things like that.

    Moreover, crypto is somewhat exclusionary and elitist, because it assumes that you have a somewhat decent hardware that, with the current hardware problems, isn't the case anymore for almost anyone, and even before that, a lot of folks hadn't the opportunity. Yet it's said to be democratic and free (as in Freedom). There's a clear contradiction.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago (5 children)

    It is easy to claim don’t elect corrupt officials except governments all around the world are corrupt. Government corruption is the common outcome, not a rare occurrence.

    If a blockchain gets forked people who held coins before the fork now have coins in both forks. Your story involves a fundamental misunderstanding.

    Yeah, no.

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  • [–] -1 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    Excellent reading comprehension on your part.

    It is easy to claim don’t elect corrupt officials except governments all around the world are corrupt. Government corruption is the common outcome, not a rare occurrence.

    Now what did I say about that? Oh right:

    You may not like that argument and that’s fine because I’m not here to argue that argument. Instead we’re going to discuss what is you argument when the centralized cabal of your blockchain currency steals your balance?

    What else did you have?

    If a blockchain gets forked people who held coins before the fork now have coins in both forks. Your story involves a fundamental misunderstanding.

    Hmm, seems like I also addressed that.

    People who opposed Steem got cut from the chain.

    I wonder what I meant by that? Could it be that it means the people who opposed Steem had their entire balance wiped from the Steem side of the fork? Well, with your impeccable logic that clearly can't be the case, clearly people doubled their coins and in doing so doubled their money. I wonder why all the scam coins haven't figured out your infinite money glitch, just fork it to double the coins and double the worth?

    Or you know, alternatively, you don't know what the fuck you're talking about.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (3 children)

    Oh wow, you found some no name crypto and apparently it is representative of everything.

    More importantly I can find a whole bunch of fiat countries that have failed. Why don’t you go and lick fascist boots instead of spreading nonsense.

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  • [–] 0 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    Oh wow, you found some no name crypto and apparently it is representative of everything.

    No. I found a real life example so you wouldn't say "that's impossible". Now how about you stop ducking and address my original point.

    More importantly I can find a whole bunch of fiat countries that have failed. Why don’t you go and lick fascist boots instead of spreading nonsense.

    Irrelevant.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (1 child)

    Yes, everything that demonstrates you are wrong is irrelevant. Must be nice to live in a world of make believe.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago

    If this is the only way to get you to address my point go ahead, start explaining how your nonsense argument demonstrates what I said is wrong. You can start by explaining what you think my point is because at this point I'm more than certain you can't even get that right.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago (5 children)

    Yeah, Blockchain is really the prime example of a solution looking for a problem. Everything you can do with Blockchain can be easier done using less ressources with other techniques. It sounds fine on paper, and as you said there might be some esoteric use for it someday in the future.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (4 children)

    If the blockchain already exists and used the resources yes it was horrible. But what really is the argument to say it's bad to use the one already generated. You don't have to use any more resources to make it. Essentially copy paste of a prime number that was already found right? Maybe I don't understand how they work well enough

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  • [–] -1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

    The problem with blockchain is that everything you can do with it can also be done with a good database. In the case of crypto, it also means that you have to download THE ENTIRE THING SINCE IT STARTED if you want to run a full node capable of validating transactions. The Bitcoin Blockchain was - as of September 2025 - 674GB in size, adding a gigabyte every few days, meaning it is probably around 750GB today, stored on every single full node - what a waste of space. Databases are a lot more flexible in that regard.

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  • [–] -2 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    And a centralized database can be modified at will by whoever controls it. Just because you place no value on a distributed ledger that is censorship and fraud resistant doesn’t mean that configuration has no value. Centralized currencies are secured with violence. Blockchains are secured with math.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    You can also apply cryptographic functions to make sure database entries are not modified - this is then an issue of transparency and not centralization.

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  • [–] -3 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    Proud to be ignorant and play video games rather than learn. Perhaps if you actually got an education you’d know better.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago* (1 child)

    You missed the context that they were proud to avoid learning about a technology that ended up being a waste of time. I imagine they would have preferred going to class and learning about something real, it sounds like they just skipped the blockchain stuff. They're flexing about being more prescient than most of his peers (and professors!), and they're not wrong. 90% of strategy is knowing what not to do.

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  • [–] 21 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    I have no idea why you are bringing racism into this.

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago

    To my understanding white isn't really a race.

    We kind of just like... pick and choose who ever we want to consider white.

    I suspect if I went around saying Russians are white people like Americans like South Africans, and like French people. Many people would give me the: 🤨

    Finally. These are some of my favorite kind of white girls.

    I prefer dark hair but I am a sucker for pale skin.

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  • [–] 16 points 1 month ago* (1 child)

    It’s ok to be casually racist against white people because it’s “punching up”. Which implies white people are superior. Which is racist against non-whites wait…

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  • [–] 8 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    The Manosphere/alpha/beta/sigma BS is the real astrology for guys. Crypto is not a pseudo science its just gambling.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    Yeah I agree the manosphere is more analogous to astrology, but I’m also guessing there’s a much higher percentage of manosphere believers that never actually go on dates to even discuss their ideas and culty beliefs, compared to any blockchain based technology, which almost all actively dating douchebags participate in and no doubt talked about on actual dates.

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  • [–] 7 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    The amount of times I've asked a crypto bro to tell me exactly what The Blockchain is and them being able to actually lucidly explain it is exactly 0, in my experience.

    I know there's science somewhere in there, but the loudest enthusiasts I've come across treat it like magic.

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago

    It's really not that interesting unless you're specifically into cryptography, and then it's like, kind of interesting for 20 minutes. I remember when "the blockchain" first came out people were talking about lots of potential uses (secure online voting was the only one that comes to mind) besides scamming people and selling illegal stuff, but of course none of those ever materialized.

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    • [–] 120 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (3 children)

    A friend set me up on a date with a coworker of him. then she spent about 20 minutes drawing my astral chart. She had notes, books and even an iPad app.

    Eventually she concluded we were not compatible, while I concluded the same thing about 20 seconds in.

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    • [–] 59 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    I will choose to make fun of it at every chance. Fortunately my girlfriend doesn't mind, so I can also still get laid.

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    • [–] 52 points 1 month ago (4 children)

    I have a pretty large, coed friend group, and roughly 50% of the women are into astrology, while none of the men are. Personally, I could never date someone who took astrology seriously. Fortunately, unlike this meme tries to paint them, there are many women who don't take astrology seriously.

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  • [–] 6 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    my wife "believed" in astrology before and while we were first dating. she used it as an easy way to weed out which guys couldn't get over themselves over a trivial difference in perspective and figure out how to compromise.

    turns out we would both read the astrology section of the newspaper growing up and giggle about how wrong it was. she just figured out a way to use it to find the right people.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (1 child)

    Oh this is definitely the case. When I was younger, I was definitely the kind of guy to publicly ridicule things like astrology, and I learned that would make me no friends. Today I'd much rather surround myself with people who act kind to each other and accept each other. Y'all are totally on that same page.

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  • [–] 2 points 1 month ago

    yup. my idiot brother consciously made it his personality to dislike everything. he still can't figure out why he doesn't have friends. i've tried explaining how you build closer relationships over stuff you like rather than stuff you dislike. he doesn't like that.

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    • [–] 104 points 1 month ago (28 children)

    I'm a woman, I have no patience for pseudoscience.

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  • [+] -8 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (20 children)

    I like to think of astrology as a fine grained personality shorthand like Meyers Briggs.

    the magical star-assigned fixed personality is dumb. what's useful is being able to tell Becky to stop being such a Capricorn and come out and party, even if she is a cancer or whatever. it's just a memey way to reference behavioral traits if your friend group already knows what they mean. i don't know how to explain this any better

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  • [–] 50 points 1 month ago (11 children)

    I like to think of personality tests like Meyers Briggs as pseudoscientific nonsense like astrology

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  • [–] 12 points 1 month ago

    Early in our dating, my wife had me take the enneagram test. I got a 2, she’s a 9. I told her I found a page detailing relationships between 2’s and 9’s and some of the strengths and weaknesses we’d navigate as a couple.

    As I was reading it she kept saying, at first, “That makes sense!” Or “Yeah I can see that.” There were a few that were kind of out there. But she kept listening.

    Eventually I revealed to her that I was ACTUALLY reading a page detailing relationships between a dragon and a sheep, our respective Chinese Zodiac signs. And that I was using this to support my argument that personality tests are astrology for educated people.

    Still ended up getting laid, though not that day. 😅

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  • [–] -3 points 1 month ago (9 children)

    It's clearly pseudoscientific nonsense. But it's easier to say "I'm a pisces" instead of "I'm feeling hesitant about the future of our relationship, Sarah" if she is into that. The value is in being able to reference loose personality archetypes without having to spend a paragraph describing someone.

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  • [–] 20 points 1 month ago (6 children)

    But being a Pisces doesn't mean anything, does it? It could both mean being someone who is afraid of risks and someone who is bold and takes chances.

    How is it easier?

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  • [+] -6 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (5 children)

    It's all contextual, honestly, but here are my impressions of the uh, categories:

    Pisces: wishy washy, both sides, indecisive, peacemaker, likes blue stuff

    Capricorn: hustle culture, hates fun

    Taurus: confident, aggressive, clumsy, bro-ish

    I don't have any others on deck without looking them up lol

    Edit: oh my god you guys. the magical star-assigned fixed personality is dumb. what's useful is being able to tell Becky to stop being such a Capricorn and come out and party, even if she is a cancer or whatever. it's just a memey way to reference behavioral traits if your friend group already knows what they mean. i don't know how to explain this any better

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  • [–] 5 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    The problem is that you're not really referencing "loose personality archetypes" in these sorts of conversations, they're being assigned to you, relatively arbitrarily. It doesn't matter if I'm serious and thoughtful, but because I was born on the third moon after the pomegranate harvest, I'm the joker of the group.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    No, I think it's pretty reasonable to push back if you're being pigeonholed into some kind of archetype you disagree with. Tell them to stop being such Capricorns. The trick is it doesn't really matter what sign you use, it's just a bit

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  • [–] 7 points 1 month ago

    You forgot the part about how it's determined by giant balls of gas millions of light years away that aren't actually arranged in neat patterns, but are actually incredibly far from one another and only look like patterns from our specific position in the universe

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  • [–] 6 points 1 month ago* (4 children)

    That argument falls flat to me simply because there are 13 zodiac signs, not 12, and ancient (and modern) astrologers simply ignore the 13th one (Ophiuchus) for convenience.

    If you are going to claim the stars have influence over our personalities, at least be consistent with how you “read” said stars.

    Not to mention, there is zero evidence that astrology works.

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  • [–] 3 points 1 month ago

    Also, at the time most of the zodiac and star chart arrangements were plotted out, the Earth had an entirely different north star than it does now. So your modern star sign would not even be consistent with the ancient charts and star signs, yet somehow all the same definitions and assumptions are supposed to apply.

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  • [–] 1 point 1 month ago (2 children)

    updated my comment lol

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  • [–] 4 points 1 month ago (1 child)

    I can appreciate that view point as long as we are in agreement that there is no real science behind it. I can totally see how people use “I’m such a Pisces” to describe themselves as sensitive and emotional. I just wish they would say “I’m sensitive and emotional” instead, lol.

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    • [+] 38 points 1 month ago (5 children)
    [removed by mod]
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  • [–] 19 points 1 month ago (3 children)

    Hating astrology is such a leo thing

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  • [–] 14 points 1 month ago (2 children)

    Damn. I dislike astrology... And I'm a Leo lol. Did you see this in the stars? Is mercury in Gatorade?

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    • [–] 38 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago)

    i roll my eyes at astrology but generally don't mind a little "folk wisdom" if it helps people deal with the world, though of course it often doesn't actually really help and just obscures the real reasons behind things.

    kinda similar to how i think a sincere belief in religion might actually help someone in many cases, but can also veil the world and make it less accessible.

    in the same vein is also folk or traditional medicine. i bet there are good insights in there, but also just a lot of bs. difficult to sift for gold.

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    [–] 35 points 1 month ago

    Lol no, I make fun of astrology with my girlfriend

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