Chia farming has definitely affected me psychologically. I got into this as an experiment, and a bet based on Bram’s reputation. I invested enough to be meaningful but not break the bank. But mentally I am much more invested than I should be. I’m wondering if others feel the same?
I have spent far too much time optimizing systems for plotting. Honestly this became obsessive. And when my systems became efficient and stable they gave me pleasure. Not just “i hope to make money” pleasure. But if I am honest, watching the machines creates plots gave me satisfaction and pride.
I’ve also spent more time than is reasonable researching alternative hardware, scouting for drives. Even as the payoffs in Chia have fallen dramatically. At this point it seems obvious that to meaningfully match my salary income I would have to outlay a huge amount of capital in drives that I am never going to do. So this is really a hobby, a flutter. But still, I am putting many more hours into it than a normal hobby and it occupies my mind more than is rational given the mediocre returns.
So - does anyone else feel this way? And if you have been sucked in to a Chia addiction (fascination?) why do you think that is ?
Hahaha yeah my ETH rigs used to be my baby and I suspect many of us do this half because of the fun of it. Its like how you work on fixing up a car in the back.
I’ve put as much time in to rocket league, but the chia stuff earns some money and makes me learn things. And who doesn’t like showing off the custom fan mod in thier jbod so they can work in the same room.
I put this in the same category as messing around with computers, overclocking, modding, raspberry pi projects etc etc. I need to supe up my farm with some RGBs that pulse to the music.
The making money aspect of this is just a bonus (or an excuse to dick around with computer hardware depending how you look at it).
I get what you are experiencing! In some ways chia farming is exactly like an idle game! I optimize things, make plots, buy a used drive, and numbers go up! It is a little addicting that way.
ETA: Note to self. Create free-to-play PC Chia Farming idle game that actually creates and farms plots under my public keys.
Yeah, it may happen when you understand that your income depends on how much you know about chia + it’s a big pleasure to understand that you know much more than others do in some new perspective crypto stuff
I’m just glad it didn’t turn into a childish egotistical bragging fest:
“My farm is bigger than your farm, so clearly I’m so much better than you.”
Or how about:
“You don’t know what you’re talking about, I have a qualification in xyz technical-related-so-and-so and crypto-algo-super-economics blah blah blah blah blah”.
Because that stuff is just tedious to read through.
You are not alone, I feel this way too. This has become my new hobby and invested a lot in hardware, time into researching hardware parts (SAS drives, HBA etc) and installing software (ubuntu server, madmax, plotman etc), and lot of trial and error into plotting experiments.
Just remember to set a target budget that is disposable so that it won’t impact yourself financially. Remember to take profit if the price of XCH is high enough that is a life changing event (or high enough that you would take picture of your account to brag to your friends).
Just like most are saying, consider this farming as a hobby. You are gaining new insight in hardware and software. I would like to add, goes as a matter of common sense, but be aware of your setup to make sure there is no fire or electrical hazards.
Yes, Chia definitely has something of the pioneer spirit, we have all headed West, shovels in hand and the fact that we have not all hit gold in the first place we began to dig has not stopped us from digging.
