Steemit, Fairy Tales and the Forgotten Side of "The Emperor's New Clothes"
Being Danish, I grew up with the fairy tales of Hans Christian Andersen as part and parcel of my early life. Like many things Danish, these were not merely "stories for children," they typically were also cautionary tales about life.
Perhaps one of the most familiar H.C.Andersen stories is that of "The Emperor's New Clothes."
Since we have a Danish theme, here's a Danish house near where I grew up
For those not familiar with the story, the "thumbnail version" of this tale is of a self-important and greedy emperor who — in his urgency to be "superior" — is swindled by a couple of crooked weavers who make him believe that their "invisible cloth" is the finest there is. He is surrounded by toadies and yes-men who wish to garner his favor, so they all end up agreeing that the invisible clothes are the finest that ever were.
It is not until the emperor walks in an important parade in his underwear that a small child — who has no allegiance to anything but truth — points out that he is, in fact, wearing no clothes.
The Cautionary Tale
In many parts of the world, the cautionary tale of "The Emperor's New Clothes" is used as an illustration to be careful that you don't get attached to things that aren't there.
Butterfly and flower
It suggests that we look behind the smoke and mirrors, and worry less about appearances. Like in "The Wizard of Oz," we're encouraged to look at what's behind the curtain.
In addition the tale illustrates the value of "The Innocent" (the child) who doesn't care about power, influence and appearances; the Innocents merely calls the situation as it is seen, and looks through the carefully fabricated house of cards.
We see this analogy used frequently in the context of scams and dodgy propostions.
In our little microcosm of cryptocurrencies, one might say that the late "great" BitConnect was an example of the Emperor's New Clothes, in the sense that it was mostly a "shell appearance" with no substance below.
But Whatever Happened to the Crooked Weavers?
As a kid — and subsequently as an adult — I have lots of appreciation for this particular fable/analogy.
That said, I have always ended up with an unanswered question: Whatever happened to the crooked weavers?
Purple Irises
History (and society — and this is where Steemit also comes into the picture) gets all wrapped up in the stupidity and greed of the Emperor, and in the brightness of the Innocent Child who sees through the smoke screen and calls out the truth.
However, the weavers were the instigators; the crooks; the people who engaged in unethical, manipulative and immoral behavior. In a sense, they were very early examples of "gaming the system," and yet they go scot-free, unmentioned, unpunished for having set up the situation, in the first place.
The idealist in me looks at that, and then looks at greater society where we laugh at the gullible, laud the whistle blowers and largely forget about the mindset that gave rise to the problems in the first place.
I remember being bullied as a kid, and whereas that was all good and well, the ultimate "response" amounted to little more than "Well, boys will be boys."
Raised to its current day fully adult status, that sounds like "crooked behavior is just human nature, there's nothing we can do about it."
Really?
The Weavers of Steemit
Of course, Steemit has its own "Emperors" and its own "Weavers."
Standing stones in the woods
The analogy of the Weavers could easily be applied to the many "for pay" Upvote Bot services and Resteem services which provide (often greedy would-be "Emperors") users with the illusion that they are doing well... when, in fact, the only people ultimately doing well are the "Weavers" themselves.
And — much like the weavers in Andersen's 180-year old fable — they are not really held accountable for their influence on the society ("Steemit") they inhabit.
Again, I must frame this opinion within my own reality of tending to view the world through an idealistic lens; a mindset that believes that when people are offered a better option, they will use it wisely as intended, rather than exploit it. Which probably makes me pretty naive.
History tends to show — sadly — that much human activity happens as a result of exploitative intent, rather than mindful intent.
A Crisis of Faith
Having a "Crisis of Faith" is more of a figure of speech for me, than a spiritual statement.
Salvia in bloom
A few weeks back, @lukestokes wrote a great piece entitled "Psychological Egoism: Selfishly Improving the World Around You," which inspired me to think about the way we conduct ourselves in the world. The basic premise is that when we "do onto others" in a way beneficial to them, we end up being part of a group/community/world that ultimately works better for us.
My Crisis of Faith is related to this creeping feeling that people are becoming increasingly self-involved to the point that they are only capable of contemplating their own immediate microcosms, but not "the whole" organism they are part of.
And it feels worrisome, and I am struggling to find a positive attitude; a point of light to move towards. It's troubling, because I am usually able to find my way through (metaphorical) darkness pretty well.
How About You? Are you familiar with "The Emperor's New Clothes?" What do YOU think it means? Is it just a children's story, or is it a timeless cautionary tale? What do you think happened to the Weavers? SHOULD something have happened to them, or is their "crookedness" simply a "bit player" on a greater scene? Does the world seem to be growing ever more self-involved? Did you read Luke's post? What did you think? Leave a comment-- share your experiences-- be part of the conversation!
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(As usual, all text and images by the author, unless otherwise credited. This is original content, created expressly for Steemit)
Created at 180404 11:04 PDT
You are asking some very complicated questions!
It is obvious that people pay for attention in most fields of life, whether from store clerks, doctors, lawyers, or T.V repairmen . To think that you can have more than a handful of true friends who care for you over and above, and whether, you are paying them is a delusion.
To do a cost/benefit analysis of whether there is a long term benefit to buying upvotes from bots is one way of approaching steemit I guess. But to then consider your "following" to have anything to do with the quality of your posts or your worth as a person - I guess that is a delusion that is peripherally touched upon as one of the nuances of the fairy tale that you cite.
I would guess that weavers live long and prosperous lives. Prophets and truth tellers are unwelcome in their own land. I have not much hope for humanity as a species. In fact, I would guess that there is an evolutionary discontinuity on the horizon which will leave most of it extinct.
Yes! I think it is nearly inevitable, given enough time, that machines/AI are doing to be the next stage of evolutionary progress.
I agree, we have to be vigilant and not get sucked into the "upvote bots/games" here on Steemit or in life. Slow and steady won the race, at least I hope so!
Thank you for your analogy, dg, which seems apt in my very limited experience.
I've been here a week, and I've been both slammed and congratulated. It seems kind of spooky at this point...kinda like the world looked after I was born...lol
Anyway, I posted my first substantial story in #education yesterday, and I look forward to meeting with people in #psychology soon.
Excelsior!
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What an interesting article - I also grew up with the tales of Hans Christian Andersen, so this story is very familiar to me. I am very new to steemit but I have already observed so many bots and if I am being honest, they kind of ruin the fun of this platform for me. It's sad that this platform allows them here...
While you have a creeping feeling, I'm absolutely convinced that increasingly, expediency is taking the place of morality and a sense of entitlement, because I'm worth it, is supplanting any concern for the good of the whole.
Even on Steemit where generosity costs nothing, most are unwilling to give a hand up to those struggling below them. I read rant after rant about the lack of votes and when I have a look at the ranter's voting history he's made 10 votes in the last week, the majority of them for himself. Reciprocity anyone?
Excellent post. I always love how you include fantastic original photography as well.
What happened to the weavers?
Who cares?
Maybe that's the real lesson we should take from the story. No one remembers them. The rest of their story is so irrelevant as to not even be worth mentioning. They are shunned. They are ignored. That may be the way forward. Those who steal, destroy, manipulate, and create fraud should not be honored with attention because more and more, attention is becoming a form of money. How we spend our attention is valuable.
The path forward is to continue walking in a direction we believe in and, if we're good communicators providing value along the way, others follow along with a shared vision which eventually creates a path for even more to follow. There will always be challenges, always be bullies and fraudsters, but the answer isn't to spend attention on them, but to rise up and move towards a better way.
Stay encouraged, @denmarkguy. Amazing things are happening all around the world, it's just a matter of perspective and our current state of mind based on what we see immediately around us. Keep fighting to maintain your optimism while venting as needed with a little, "Get off my lawn!" from time to time. :)
I see this a lot in the activism space, where people think there is a hierarchy of things to be fixed, and will focus like a laser on their one thing and deride anyone else as "taking the focus away from" their One Important Cause. They don't see the interconnectedness at all.
As for the crooked weavers in society ...the more damage they cause, the more I become pro-guillotine.
The words
'they are only capable of contemplating their own immediate microcosms, but not "the whole" organism they are part of.'
are so true. Not just here but in the world at large.
From personal experience here, i have learned that when when you see the emperor walking down the road naked, and you call out 'hey this guy is naked' you get flagged : )
Not sure how you see things but I have always been aware of the social conditioning to take care of self and to hell with everyone else. There must be something a bit broken in me as that specific conditioning never made its way into my subconscious. I have often thought that my life would be infinity more simple if I could just shut the fuck up and take care of myself and ignore whatever abuse others are experiencing.
It must be something to do with adverse childhood experiences.