The Graduate (1967) is a film about a young man rejecting the ideas of his parents' generation and forging forward to make his own life based upon his own ideals. One of the most well remembered sequences is this awkward interaction with the family friend, Mr. McGuire:
With the benefit of historical hindsight, we know that Mr. McGuire was right, of course. Plastics would become absolutely ubiquitous in the following decades, and Ben is someone at the right age at the right time to take full advantage of that emerging technological trend. Nonetheless, his pitch is comically inept.
If Ben's course of study (perhaps significantly for the tone of the narrative, the eponymous protagonist's major is never mentioned) were in Chemical Engineering or Business Administration, perhaps, he could have been the one to educate Mr. McGuire on the disruptive potential of polymers. Also, Ben's family is shown to be solidly in the upper middle class, but there is no indication that he has the personal funds to invest in plastics or any other emerging industry. Even if Ben understands the validity of Mr. McGuire's proposition, he is in no position to take any immediate advantage of it.
Too often, I find, would-be cryptoëvangelists come off sounding like Mr. McGuire.
Can this be remedied?
Nearly a decade into the existence of blockchain technology, any pitch along the lines of “Bitcoin is the future!” is no more nor less than “Mr.-McGuire-ing”. People need concrete use cases that are relevant to their own life experiences, their needs and their skill sets.
To these reading this post, how do you talk to the Bens in your life about cryptocurrency?