Sociological Perspective

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|               SOCIOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE                     |
+-----------------------------------------------------------+
|                                                           |
|   Don't lament "moral decay"                              |
|   Generational shifts destroy "universal values"          |
|                                                           |
|   1980s: Bell-bottoms = crime                             |
|   Future: Pump-style streams = normal                     |
|                                                           |
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From a sociological perspective, schemes are not just financial instruments, but also:

Channels for social mobility
Mechanisms for wealth redistribution
Carriers of attention economy
Forms of community organization

2/ Construction of Trust

Trust in traditional society comes from:

Blood relations
Geographic relations
Institutional authority backing

Trust in the Crypto era comes from:

Code transparency (smart contracts)
Game equilibrium (economic incentives)
Community consensus (Meme/narrative)

3/ Class & Audience

Class	Scheme Preference	Reason
Information advantage	Split Ponzi (operator)	Can control token distribution
Capital advantage	Dividend Ponzi (whale)	Pursue stable returns
Time advantage	Mutual-Aid Ponzi/Shitcoins	Can invest effort in arbitrage
No advantage	Meme/Gambling	Pursue high-multiple gambles

4/ Construction of Legitimacy

Vitalik sets rules for splits through narrative:

DeFi → NFT/SBT → LSD → Layer2 → Restaking

Core positions in each narrative are extremely limited = Control split rate

This is a form of social engineering:

Define “orthodox” vs “heterodox”
Allocate limited attention and liquidity
Maintain vested interests’ positions

5/ Reflexivity & Prophecy

Self-fulfilling prophecy in sociology:

Think it will rise → Buy → Actually rises → More people think it will rise → ...
Think it will crash → Sell → Actually crashes → More people think it will crash → ...

The essence of schemes is managing this process of expectation self-fulfillment.

6/ Evolution of Norms

Era	Behavior Seen as Deviant	Current Status
1980s	Bell-bottom pants	Retro fashion
1990s	Online dating	Mainstream method
2000s	Bitcoin	Legal asset
2010s	ICO	Variants continue to exist
2020s	Pump livestreams	Being normalized

7/ Progress of Civilization?

A controversial viewpoint:

We’ve popularized the act of “harvesting others” - effectively a “technique of population control” - to younger generations, liberating them from the hypocritical moral judgment frameworks forcibly imposed by ruling classes, decriminalizing various zero-sum activities by mid-century, allowing everyone to PVP equally and outsmart others.

Is this “advancing human civilization” or “moral decline”?

Perhaps the answer depends on where you stand.

Core Insights

Sociological Perspective Core:
├── Schemes are mappings of social structures
├── Trust mechanisms are evolving
├── Norms are constantly being broken and rebuilt
└── History is written by victors

Insights for Operators:
├── Understand your audience's position in social structure
├── Exploit changes in trust mechanisms
├── Don't frame the future with outdated norms
└── Adaptation is more effective than resistance

“Do kings and nobles have innate superiority!”