First published 16 May 2022 on Your Best Year Starts Here with Nigel Risner.
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Nigel had to duck out at the end of the last episode, and he came back with something he warned me was weird. He reckoned we'd get feedback saying this isn't what people signed up for. Then he started talking about crypto.
Just before Christmas he was in a pool in the middle of nowhere and asked a young lad for a one-minute lesson on it. The lad asked how much he'd spend over a big weekend. Nigel said 500 pounds. So the lad took his phone (in the water, bear in mind) and put the 500 in for him, on the basis that weekend money's gone by Sunday night anyway. Nigel's read up on it since and put a bit more in. Not millions, he says.
His bigger point was how quickly we call something a scam because we don't understand it. Only put in what you can afford to lose. I use a two-pocket system at the races, one for what I'm happy to lose and another for anything that comes back. At the greyhounds I bet on whichever dog has a poo on the way to the traps. Nigel called that classical training.
I said a little knowledge can be more dangerous than none, because it makes you think you know more than you do. A friend of mine was asked if he was telling people to buy crypto. He said no, just get ready for the day you get paid in it. And Nigel had just been in the States working with a big charity that now takes donations in crypto.
Then Zoom. I've used online tools for presentations for about 20 years, going back to WebEx and Skype in my IT days. We'd asked a few of you about some training we're planning, and more people wanted Zoom than a room, which surprised me. I love the energy of a live room. A standing ovation beats the Leave Meeting button. But I get why nobody fancies leaving the house hours early and booking a hotel for a 9.30 start.
The short version
- Not understanding something doesn't make it a scam. Understanding it doesn't make it right either.
- Only put in what you can afford to lose, and keep anything that comes back in a different pocket.
- A little knowledge can make you overconfident. Stay open to learning, even on stuff you've done for 20 years.
- Work out how to use the technology for you, or it ends up using you.
For all of this technology, how do I put it to the best use for me? Because if I don't work out how do we use it best for me, it will end up using me.
Neil Martin
Just because you don't understand it doesn't mean it's wrong. And also, just because you do understand it doesn't mean it's right.
Nigel Risner
