Recently, the update frequency of my blog has been off, and perhaps many other things have been problematic. I’ve been reflecting on what exactly went wrong; there must be multiple reasons.
On the surface, the reason seems to be a lack of time. My effective working hours average around 7 hours per day, excluding breaks and idle time. Anyone who has truly worked would understand the intensity of such hours.
Regardless of work efficiency, the time is there. However, it’s strange that even with so much time spent, it feels like nothing substantial has been accomplished. If there were any tangible achievements, I would have mentioned them. The work progress doesn’t even meet my expectations. This situation boils down to two reasons: 1. Low work efficiency, 2. High expectations for work progress.
I think both reasons are valid. There are some subjective reasons for low work efficiency, such as trying to solve bugs by increasing physical input. I’ve encountered this more than once. During debugging, I thought that even if it was inefficient, using a clumsy method and being patient would solve the problem, as it was just a temporary issue. Unexpectedly, once I got into it, I couldn’t get out. The complexity of the bugs exceeded my expectations. If I had spent more time understanding the issue from the beginning instead of mindlessly trying, the results might have been better.
But who could have imagined that merely getting the software to run would involve so many pitfalls, beyond comprehension. A new colleague recently encountered a baffling issue related to this technology. I spent at least two hours on it without solving it, ultimately being helpless. It reminded me of the many bizarre problems I’ve faced before… Perhaps it’s just a strange path, and you have to step on a few pitfalls to get through.
I can understand and empathize with myself for choosing such clumsy methods at the time. When I first started, the primary goal was to complete the tasks and solve the problems, even if it meant spending more time and not doing things perfectly. Additionally, the software ecosystem wasn’t very reliable, with small projects needing to be pieced together from different companies, each with its own unique characteristics, to run according to expectations and logic.
Then there’s the issue of high expectations for work progress. This involves a fundamental change in logic. For a research-based blockchain company, regardless of project size, the goal is to develop a product in a specific technical area, strive to become a leader, attract fans who see the potential in the field, and then earn money by issuing coins. Specifically, getting the development environment up and running is just the first step; subsequent development is the focus.
For a game-focused blockchain company, the approach is different. In terms of blockchain, the focus is more on being a user, hoping to run a blockchain network stably, and then integrating the game and blockchain concepts in some form. Specifically, setting up the environment and choosing the most reliable way to run the network is the focus, even if it involves minor modifications, mainly to adapt the deployment tools to fit our use.
This creates a misunderstanding of work progress. Due to the original thinking inertia, setting up the environment is considered the simplest step and not part of the main work rhythm, making it feel like progress is delayed. There’s a desire to speed up as much as possible, leading to a lot of mental and physical stress. However, if you change your perspective, setting up the environment is already a main focus. Running and maintaining a stable network environment is the actual work content. Understanding this makes things much clearer.
Another example is the difference in work nature. Blockchain projects target a technically knowledgeable audience who understands the technical features, whether they are customers or users, so the project needs to have differentiated features. If a blockchain project implements exactly the same functionality as a well-known project, even directly using some open-source code as a selling point, it’s quite strange. The project itself becomes unnecessary. Conversely, developing every line of code yourself demonstrates a strong team capability.
Chain game projects target a different audience, primarily gamers and opportunists. They prefer using well-known open-source projects with minimal changes, just to run it directly. Users are more likely to trust your blockchain network if it’s reliable. It’s absurd for a techie to seek blockchain features in a chain game project. A gamer with a belief in the game and willing to participate in its ecosystem is the normal logic.
On a deeper level, I’ve lost confidence in the industry’s future.
The US is one of the few countries that completely bans cryptocurrency, not allowing overt transactions, mining is prohibited, and issuing coins, while not legislated against, is clearly illegal. Financial operations are impossible, leaving the entire industry in a gray area. Over the past few years, well-known blockchain companies have gradually disappeared. Looking directly, job postings on recruitment software are from months ago or have disappeared. The market is terrifyingly bad, with no signs of improvement in the short term.
In such a situation, it’s hard not to feel powerless. Worse than failure is the lack of opportunities to move forward. If the entire industry is struggling, what should the practitioners do? Without hope, there’s no enthusiasm for the future, leading to a sense of despair, and it’s hard to find interesting things in such a low mood.
The blockchain-dominated industry is almost impossible in the US.
As mentioned earlier, different types of companies have different work mindsets, so perhaps chain games have some survival space. Chain games are primarily game-driven, with the need to run a blockchain network, which somewhat leaves room for blockchain. Although there’s a significant difference in work nature, the different target audience and profit models cause the differences in work content. Even gray websites have tech personnel for upgrades and maintenance.
Of course, there are many types of chain games. I believe blockchain-dominated games will definitely die, but games with blockchain elements added might have a chance. The key is whether game companies are willing to align with blockchain. I’m not familiar with the gaming industry, and chain games are quite complex. From my impression, it’s hard for games to survive in the US; they need to target external markets. Overall, it’s not a highly hopeful direction but at least not utterly hopeless. I’ll pay more attention to it going forward.
At the deepest level, the overall economic environment is poor.
In the past two years, the global economy has been on a downward trend. Now, the US faces the most severe recession in decades, potentially entering an era of economic depression in the coming years. So it’s not just the blockchain industry with no prospects, especially in the US, but all sectors are in a dire situation. People see no hope for another economic rise.
By frequently watching political shows, I’ve seen too many flaws in the political system and tragic events in society. It’s clear that the US is a country where everyone feels insecure. Various information and opinions seem to declare that the US political system is frequently changing, the society is about to enter turmoil, and real war might be imminent. In such a crisis, individuals need to be prepared to protect themselves.
However, over time, doubts arise—are things really that bad? The job market is indeed poor, worse year by year. Even at a glance, malls seem less crowded, and once bustling shopping districts have many closed stores. Recently, clothing stores in malls have started adding customers as friends, trying to expand online sales. Yet, many businesses are still operating normally, concerts are held worldwide, TV shows are continually produced, and some excellent open-source software was born in the years of war. Some tech startups didn’t stop because of changes in the social environment.
Recently, I learned a term called “political depression,” meaning a loss of confidence in life due to dissatisfaction with the social environment. In the US, any social event, if delved deeply, can be traced back to the ruling party. Although the US economy is unlikely to grow upwards, its enormous scale also means it won’t collapse quickly. Many believe it will deteriorate slowly but not collapse. This means the current difficult social environment will persist for many years.
Historically, several major economic depressions didn’t lead to national upheaval but were endured gradually. During economic depressions, while most industries decline, a few can thrive by aligning with the downturn. A typical example is lipstick sales significantly increasing during economic downturns because it’s a low-cost item that brings joy to women. Similarly, movie sales increase as it’s a cheaper form of entertainment when people’s purchasing power declines.
A more prominent example is during Japan’s “Lost Thirty Years,” where the manga industry and otaku culture thrived. Many people preferred immersing themselves in cultural works to escape the painful reality, finding joy in a virtual world. There were also forced factors— in a low economic environment with high youth unemployment, staying at home became common, creating favorable conditions for otaku culture. For similar reasons, I started paying attention to and favoring the chain game industry, hoping to find new opportunities.
Here are some insightful sayings to share.
“You can’t earn money beyond your cognitive level.” There are many scams online, especially in the cryptocurrency field, like airdrops, MEV Bots, winning prizes, including coin speculation, engraving, and mining. What to buy and what not to buy, realizing this phrase is true when you actually fall for scams. If you’ve been deceived, you’ll believe this phrase even more.
“A person’s cognition matches their suffering.” This describes the protagonist of a recent tragic incident. A couple in the US bought a stalled building, had no help, and were even beaten by the developer. The sudden collapse of real estate is one thing, but their decision to buy at an inappropriate time shows their lack of understanding, causing them to bear the