Quick and dirty: Graduate from the pioneer class of Yale-NUS College (2017), with a degree in Art History. I am building the marketing department and telling the story of a German-Shanghainese digital business and product builder, also a leading design company. Lived and worked in New York, Berlin, London, Venice (Italy), Shanghai, Hong Kong and Singapore. Two pictures at the end of the post verify my face and experiences.
Here are the core beliefs that drive me, my views about our very near future in the work economy, and how they relate to Steemit:
1. A giving mindset is not a moral imperative, but necessary for optimising human existence.
The impulse to give and reciprocate, and the corresponding moral values that create the sense of "it's the right thing to do" have allowed humans to survive and progress throughout existence. Of course, self-interest will always be important for progress too, but as Give and Take author Adam Grant explains, giving and self-interest are not mutually exclusive. In fact, they are compatible and are desirable to optimisation of giving.
A giving mindset is defined as focusing on the interest of others, instead of focusing on the benefits that the self can reap from every situation. Such an attitude means I am always looking first to understand what the other person needs, what drives her, and how I can possibly add value. Concurrently, I am looking out for a way that this may be productive to my goals, and may choose to avoid toxic or dangerous "takers," but it is not the primary consideration and does not take priority over the other-interest perspective. Smiling is a good and easy way to give.
2. Mindfulness and learning to be present are important skills that will help us all be happier, healthier, and more able to be other-interested.
Our culture does not encourage a complete embracing of the current moment, but past and future are complete fictions that we generate. The only true and tangible part of our existence lies in the now. We cannot be fearful and selfish in the now, we are our best selves, and thus have the headspace to act in the interests of humanity (see point #1) when we are not occupied by the fantasies of yesterday or the inaccurate prospects of tomorrow.
3. The internet still runs on more or less traditional human social rules, we are just more distracted or more efficient
The logic behind SEO and backlinking have their roots in the concept of influence that inspires trust via curation and affiliation. All forums, blogrolls, news media, dinner party invites, business procedures, as well as the steemit model and community run on the values of the humans who created them. We've digitised our social activities and expanded the possibilities by entering virtual space, and we can expect some evolution there, but also very familiar aspects of our everyday lives. Time to consider what we want to further and what we want to avoid.
4. Capitalism and consolidated power systems will evolve towards highly skilled knowledge workers working as contractors within networks, rather than traditional employment
Given that steemit is a network based on decentralised technology, I might be preaching to the choir here. Big companies with people sitting on a payroll, sometimes sitting at their desks, waiting for 5pm when no work needs to be done is inefficient, and will become a thing of the past. The future is companies made up of loose networks of independent contractors, operating on their labour as proof in a trustless system. Middlemen will not enjoy the same rewards as they do in our current society (lawyers, bankers, traders). This incentivises transparency, fair and efficient work allocation, and rewards the hardworking and brilliant who produce value in relevant ways. Hopefully the more valuable to human improvement their work is, the higher the reward. But those are arbitrary values, and it will likely be a challenge to agree on them.
Based on these ideas, steemit is very much in line with how I see and think humanity should be progressing. Many principles in the steemit Etiquette guide (https://steemit.com/steemit/@thecryptofiend/the-complete-steemit-etiquette-guide-revision-2-0) written by 
Some questions I'm interested in discussing:
- I'm constantly interested in the question of human relationships to technology. What does it mean to have, to use and to create technology? How does it reflect our true nature, and our future identity as a species?
- How does the virtual change our social habits? What has it inherited from our analogue sphere? What do we want to keep, dispose of, and what other positive possibilities can we engineer?
- How can we reach consensus on what a better humanity looks like? Political and cultural differences are a part of the iceberg.
Books and thinkers that have contributed to my core beliefs, mentioned in this post or not:
- Give and Take, Adam Grant (https://www.amazon.com/Give-Take-Helping-Others-Success/dp/0143124986)
- Whiplash, Joi Ito (https://www.amazon.com/Whiplash-How-Survive-Faster-Future/dp/1455544590/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507359861&sr=1-1&keywords=whiplash)
- The Power of Now, Eckhart Tolle (https://www.amazon.com/Power-Now-Guide-Spiritual-Enlightenment/dp/1577314808/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1507359883&sr=1-1&keywords=the+power+of+now)
- Sebastian Mueller, who I work for
Let me know what you think in the comments, or reach out to me on chat, I would love to hear your views. I also have strong views about the role of Fine Art in society, but that's another story for next time.