Reading, Writing, and Bitcoin: The New Fundamentals

We all take it for granted that numeracy and literacy are essential skills everyone must learn if they want to live a successful life. More than just school subjects, they represent the foundational skills required to understand the world around us.

Without a reasonable understanding of numeracy and literacy, you’re almost guaranteed to struggle through life.

Take numeracy for example. Without a basic understanding of numbers, it becomes almost impossible to navigate life and make good quality decisions. You need it to tell the time, to budget your finances, and to understand the true value of things. If you don’t have a basic understanding of maths, you will always be at the mercy of those who do, and become an easy target for shady businesses, corrupt politicians, and anyone who stands to benefit from your lack of understanding.

(You may recall the time the government tried to convince us that inflation, the perpetual expansion of the money supply, was only transitory…)

The point is, without a reasonable understanding of mathematics, you’re going to have a bad time.

The same is true of literacy; your ability to process information, think critically, and separate fact from fiction. Can you read a contract and understand what’s really in it? Can you spot the difference between a well-reasoned argument and an emotional appeal dressed up as the truth? Are you able to recognise when something sounds too good to be true?

We are constantly bombarded with a torrent of information, a lot of which is designed to mislead us. If we fail to develop a reasonable level of literacy and critical thinking, it becomes impossible to distinguish between accurate information and complete nonsense.

It’s obvious then why education focuses so heavily on numeracy and literacy. They are essential tools for navigating life that apply universally to everyone no matter what nature of work they do. You could go your whole life without ever learning French, and not really suffer for it. But if you can’t read, write and do basic arithmetic, then life will be an uphill battle.

We think the same is true of Bitcoin.

The very nature of money itself, and the way humans communicate value to one another, collaborate, and trade, is fundamentally changing. As Bitcoin continues to become more and more ubiquitous, not understanding how to use it, like not knowing how to read and write, will start to make life increasingly difficult.  

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They Won’t Teach You Bitcoin at School

The problem is, you’re not going to get a quality education about Bitcoin through traditional means.

If you manage to venture outside of the Bitcoin bubble, you quickly realise that most people have a very limited understanding of what money is, how it evolved over time, or what problems it solves. Everybody uses it, but nobody understands how it works.

But this isn’t a reflection of people’s intelligence, even incredibly smart people often don’t understand money. Most people don’t understand it because they were never taught anything about it. While we we're all taught to add-up, and to read and write, none of us were taught about the true nature of money.

Even those who go on to study Economics at University don’t develop a good understanding of money. The subject is taught and discussed in higher education, but the only Kool-Aid on offer is Keynesian economic theory, the dogma of which is never aggressively interrogated or challenged. That’s not education, that’s indoctrination.

Is it truly crazy to think that maybe this glaring omission in our education system might have been intentional?

Intentional or not, based on their poor track record, we think it highly unlikely that schools, universities or governments will make any concerted effort to educate you properly about Bitcoin any time soon.

If you want to master the future of money and prepare yourself and your family for a successful life, you’re going to have to take matters into your own hands.

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You Can’t Outsource Your Bitcoin Education

The challenge is that mastering Bitcoin can seem intimidating, especially for those who are not technically minded or particularly comfortable with modern technology. The idea of managing your wealth with unfamiliar software and hardware, with no safety net, can make people feel a little nervous.

This results in far too many people reaching the stage of buying Bitcoin as an ‘investment’, but never actually learning how to use it properly. Instead they get trapped in a cycle of listening to endless ‘macro podcasts’ and praying at the altar of ‘number go up’.

They ‘buy and hodl’ but never develop any new skills.

This is a mistake.

If you don’t learn how to use Bitcoin properly then you will forever live in someone else’s reality. Sure, you can rely on a third parties to help you custody your Bitcoin, but understand that they will be in no rush to teach you new skills to help you become self-sufficient. Why would they? That wouldn’t be good for business! Heaven forbid you find out they can’t offer you anything you couldn’t just do for yourself.

In a lot of ways, it feels like history is repeating. Lots of people are buying Bitcoin now, but very few people understand how it works.

With Bitcoin on track to become the default monetary network used by the entire planet, trying to avoid learning how to use it properly is like refusing to learn how to read and write. You will have little ability to discern good information from bad, and the likelihood of you securing your Bitcoin for the long term becomes severely diminished.

If you outsource your thinking and remain incapable of creating wallets, running nodes, sending transactions, or being able to look after your money securely, then the harsh reality is that you are falling behind. Ultimately you will end up poorly prepared for the future and will always be reliant on others.

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Prepare For the Future – Master Bitcoin Self-Custody

The bottom line is, if you want to position yourself for success when the world moves to a Bitcoin standard, then you need to learn how to use the tools.

The good news is that any trepidation you might feel about gaining these skills is misplaced. Learning how to use Bitcoin effectively appears far more intimidating than it really is. In the same way you don’t need to understand the inner workings of the internal combustion engine to drive a car, you don’t need a PHD in advanced cryptography to competently use Bitcoin.

If you can operate a laptop, install apps, push buttons, and follow clear instructions, then you have everything you need to be able to become a fully self-sovereign Bitcoin user. It might feel a little alien atfirst, much like it did when you first drove a car, but with a little applied effort and some training it soon becomes second nature.

Ultimately, you have two choices. You can remain dependent on institutions and leave your fate in the hands of others. Or you can learn the skills to become fully self-sovereign and learn how to use and protect your Bitcoin properly.  

We think you should choose the latter, decide to be extraordinary, and become truly self-sovereign. With our expert training you can master the skills to use Bitcoin to its full potential in no time at all.

The future doesn’t belong to those who simply buy Bitcoin.The future belongs to those who know how to use it. So separate yourself from the mob, book a free 30-minute consultation,and let’s get your training started.