Paying it forward in crypto

I remember when I started on Steemit and how much of a noob I was. Now, don't get any ideas, I'm still a HUGE noob but I am less noob than I used to be.
And I remember what my state of mind was and what stupid stuff I used to say. Like many of you, new to this crypto-crazy world, it all seemed a bit out there, a bit like a parallel reality that somehow connected with our current reality. What's more, you could bring some of the gold from the crypto-reality to our day-to-day reality. Huh?!

I got lucky though. There's no denying that. Sure, the luck of finding Steemit early is the first and maybe the most important of it all.
BUT
Joining the Steemit chat was arguably equally lucky. It was the first time I used a slack. I did not know what SLACK was!! <--- noobALERT!

I like to chat so I got into a lot of discussions with people there. I know I must have spewed a lot of ignorant questions. I can't remember but I hope it was only ignorant questions, which I can respect and not ignorant advice, which I think it's a crime. The luck here was that my ignorant questions were answered by smart, knowledgeable and patient fellas. How did they put up with my stupid questions and answers. My constant FOMO. My giving in the FUD. My buying shitcoins and acting smug. Etc eTC ETC?
HOW?!

thank god they did not think so :D

I am still amazed that they stuck around and took the time to teach me and guide me to knowledge, sometimes repeating the same thing again and again and again. I like to think that something stuck with me. I like to think that they got something out of it too. What, exactly, I wasn't sure until recently....

...recently, I got on a crypto-forum and read some stuff people wrote there and I was amazed by the level of ignorance, trolling, stupidity that I observed. No, I do not want to be all haughty. It's just fact. The people wanted to buy coins, without even understand what they were buying.
They wanted to trade, without understanding anything about trading.
They were all pursued by one goal: make money.
The problem is - make money - is not a strategy in itself. It's not even a tactic. It's a wish. And wishes don't make for smart actions all that often.

This one guy wanted to buy a coin that just started trading and it was at 5x of its initial value. I argued with him that this is not a good idea. We had a long chat about the pros and cons of his decision. For 30 minutes we dueled and it was ...fun. I was forced to have better arguments and in the process, understood MY poistion better.
He was forced - I hope - to face his own flaws in argumentation.

I was honestly thorn on what to do. On the one hand, these people and their ignorance is a reason why so many smart people make money in crypto. On the other hand, I believe that exploiting stupidity is not a long term value proposition.What I mean by that is that this "bubble" will pop if we build it on people stupidily giving away hard earned cash. Eventually, they'll say "no more"! and all the bubbles witl go POP! POP!.
But do we need that?

In poker, there's money to be made when playing with lesser opponents. The worse the opponent the better for me. Even there, I?feel bad to play i with people wh are literally throwing money away. sure, that's the purpose of the game and sure, i did not force him to play but still...
In crypto, the value comes - in my opinion - from the word-chainging potential of the tech. We don't need stupid people that throw away money to make money! I think what we need is more people to be #woke to the potential of this technology!

Upon reflecting I realized that I can do something. I can help a noob find his way around crypto and not get scammed. It's a bit sad that this is necessary that there are so many shit projects that are all too happy to take your money on empty promises and run. But that's human nature, can't fight that.
Yet, with knowledge, we can fight these scammy projects and maybe less people getting into it will lessen their motivation to exists.
Really, there are SO many great projects in crypto-world that I see no reason to join a bad one.
Of course, there are more bad ones than not....

Anyway, so what can I do?

• I'm thinking commenting on Steemit posts and helping out/answering questions is one way to "help a noob". If I see people with questions or even with flawed arguments, I'll try to help and shed some light, if I can. Sure, many will not hear me out. I know I did not follow ton of good advice I hae received. Sometimes, we are not ready to follow good advice.

• Learning as much as I can! That might sound counterintuitive but the more I know, the more I can share. A lot of times, bettering myself is the best way I can help my friends, my community, my followers. I shall try to be forever on the learning wave.

• Commenting and chating with people in the chat or forums and trying to get them to understand some core concepts. This is particularly difficult, as a voice can get so easily lost with so many trolls yelling. But, in time, I hope that at least a few people might get something out of it.

I'm thinking and proactively trying to find ways to help as they appear. I think just having this "helping" mentality will help me manifest some opportunities to do just that.

In the end, I helped this guy not waste his money on a shitcoin and I felt really good. There's a lot of power in helping, sharing and teaching. I almost think it's a selfish act to help if you get the kind of satisfaction out of it that I do.

And I think I understand what my mentors and early helpers got out of it.
For one, I'll never forget them :)