Blockchain Adoption: Human Psychology or Tech Issues?

The process of tech infiltration into everyday lives is nothing new. The same began, arguably, more than three centuries ago with the first Industrial Revolution. However, as time goes by, more and more of that same technology is seeping into every pore of the lives of regular people. This is why a new fundamental conflict is slowly forming in the society. It is brought on by two different forces that are still intertwined.

The first is our need to attain more productivity and efficiency. In the crypto community, this relates to the need to define a perfect network model and attain a perfect consensus. The same, however, comes into a direct clash with the human quest to find meaning and purpose. This impulse regularly produces new discoveries that invalidate old tech applications and render them obsolete, even though they seem legitimately useful on paper.

All of this is directly related to the concept that blockchain tech really does matter. Since 2009 and the next few years when it really became wider known among the public, it became one of the key emerging technologies of the early 21st century. In fact, over time, a lot of material was produced, ranging from blog to serious analysis that presented blockchain as the solution to many problems humanity faces.

This painted blockchain as a concept that only needed the society as a whole to accept and use it for its purpose and direction. The tech would do everything else. Yet, this is far from the first time in history that such a notion became prevalent in the public consciousness. Today, like every time in the past as well, it is strewn with numerous problems.

Human Minds as a Problem

The supporters of the blockchain tech see it not only as a big technological leap, but also a chance for humanity to rethink and entirely redesigned its behavior. The basis for the redesign is the ability of the blockchain networks to create immutable records of shared truth. This could make the crucial chance to our entire ability to make decisions and create consensus not just in cryptocurrencies, but wherever human collectives work proactively towards any shared goal.

But, many supporters believe that the same ability of blockchain casts a dark light on our ability to accept this change. With this theory, the key problem for the adoption of blockchain, just as the overall change of human civilization is the same – it is the humans themselves. In other words, the tech potential is well and truly present already, but the need of the civilization is to reexamine its own approach and values towards it.

Culture of Grandeur

Some have further defined this idea that civilization standards are holding back blockchain. With this concept, the problem is the culture of grandeur or even megalomania. It stipulates that those who hold the power thrive to get nothing else but accumulate more power. The ideology of any kind has been replaced in broad strokes with the need to mass and horde. This might be power, or money, or resources or anything else.

While the ones at the bottom of that pyramid simply shuffle papers, the ones on the top are basically doing the same but only with larger numbers written down on them. This means that even the most powerful CEO is simply trying to become even more powerful, which is a road devoid of any destination. A power-driven structure cannot be expected to change the world for the better, even if some accidental side effects include an improvement or two.

In that setting blockchain, like almost any other revolutionary technology is nothing more than a buzzword that others use to sell-up some element in their personal/copy struggle for more power. Like esports or other digital ventures, the technology only provides the stage on which a play is set. The play itself is still created by humans and right now, the same play revolves around nothing more than greed. Blockchain has slim chances of meaningful change in that kind of an environment.

Radical Shifts Needed

Usually, whenever someone says in relative peace and tranquility that radical changes are needed, the same sounds like a doomed venture. However, many fact show that the present time is not at all peaceful or tranquil. The massive political changes, most of which would be unimaginable just a decade ago, like Brexit for example, are fueled by unseen cogs of negative change. The economy and the dominance of the western principles that won the cold war are weaning.

The idea that China was only lingering on to a losing governmental principle has been proven spectacularly wrong and its future seems well-established in its current anti-western political form. Throughout all of this, the climate is drastically changing, ushering in a time of even larger social and economic upheaval. This era is no longer centuries away. At best, it is decades and at worst, we are already well and truly in it.

The knowledge of these cold facts is slowly seeping into every culture and country in the world. The rise of bitcoin could be, in part, directly related to the same phenomena – some believe that individuals simply sense that alternatives are not just useful, but necessary. Hopes are that now, many in the general public are ready and willing to embrace huge change, even those that have never seen before.

Privacy and Users’ Basic Rights

Oddly enough, the idea of privacy as a basic right stands in the middle of this discussion. Here, the shift in user mentality can be seen – not that long ago, the need for privacy was almost a fringe demand by the most tech-savvy individuals who inclined towards these notions. Today, even huge companies like Facebook and Twitter are supporting major changes in privacy setups and even promoting decentralization as a means of controlling identities and assets.

This too plays into the same concept – the need for privacy is a basic human right. Like other radical shifts that are needed for the blockchain tech to really make a difference, this too is something that was nearly non-existent not that long ago and is now an accepted reality. It shows that mass human psychology can change; right now, it is time for that change to start faster and wider than ever.