What is Bitcoin and Why does it have the price that it does.

This is such an interesting topic.  As programming is a very necessary part of my job, it was very easy for me to understand the technology behind Crypto-Currency.  While I don't mean all the small intricacies like the algorithms that drive it, I mean I understand it as a whole.  For most people, the technology is mysterious and magical, but it's really quite simple in concept, and the concept is what we need to understand in order to understand whether or not Crypto-Currency has any actual value.

Block Chain or The Ledger System.

Simply put, it's called a block chain because each transaction is literally blocked off from the next.  So what would that look like visually?

[Block1(Transaction1)] ----> [Block2(Transaction2] -----> [Block3(Transaction3] ---->  ... etc.

This is just the ledger system behind it that is so famously called block chain technology.  Whether it's Bitcoin or Etherium or any other new flashy Crypto-Currency, they all use this ledger system.  This is of course a simplistic explanation, however, it's the only truly necessary explanation that's needed for the people not involved in the coding.

Cryto-Currencies, How they work.

Whether it's BitCoin, Etherium or even DogeCoin, they all rely on the previously explained Block Chain or Ledger System.  

They're on a network of computers, that is a group of computers that all use these softwares.  To be clear, all of these softwares are different from each other.  Think of email systems, your gmail and yahoo mail are totally different systems.  

So on the BTC(bitcoin) system, all of the computers involved utilize the BTC Ledger System, each time a transaction block happens, that gets written into the BTC network and every computer that is running the BTC Ledger System is updated with this transaction block.  The reason this is necessary is because that's how all of the transactions are tracked so that no 1 BitCoin can be used for 2 transactions simultaneously making it impossible to make fraudulent transactions on the BTC System.  Also, with the coding involved, supposedly once a transaction block is confirmed, the code block cannot be edited, so that also prevents hacking the Ledger System, supposedly that's also why people using BTC can't be tracked.  But I'll talk about the tracking later on.

How Crypto-Currency is actually used.

So now that you know what the Block Chain or Ledger System is and how Crypto-Currencies work on their respective systems, How are they actually used?

In order to actually use BTC, a business or institution needs to create an account on the BTC System.  Upon receiving BTC as a payment, the business can actually hold onto the BTC in hopes it'll increase in value or exchange it for it's dollar value with a Crypto-Exchange Bank.  In which case, they too will either hold onto it or sell it to someone whose willing to pay for it in dollars.

I'll use Tesla for this example because at an earlier point they did take BTC for their cars.  So if someone went to buy a Tesla car worth $35,000 with a BTC which is worth $50,000, they would get back $15,000 either in BTC or in dollars. .

Why Crypto-Currency doesn't work.

In order for Crypto or any other Currency to work, there has to be stability in the value of the currency.  Because of a lack of central control, Crypto-Currencies fluctuate wildly.  It's due to this fluctuation that there really isn't much use for the Currency itself.  You see, you can't spend the BTC to buy something if there isn't a vendor on the BTC Network.  

BTC has been out since 2010, after 11 years, there's only 164 companies that are on the BTC Network and willing to accept it as payment of some sort.  Here's a link to a page that lists those businesses.

https://paybis.com/blog/companies-that-accept-bitcoin/

Because of the wild fluctuation, not accepting BTC makes sense from any sort of business perspective.  If Tesla prices it's vehicle at 35k and takes a BTC that's worth 50k, then gives change to the customer, they have to rely on the fact that when they do turn that BTC in for dollars, that they will get that 50k value or higher.  Because Tesla is a big company, they have the wherewithal to take that gamble.  But if the value of the BTC drops like it has to the recent 30k mark, Tesla not only didn't receive the total payment of the car, but they also gave back 15k in change to the customer.

In the previous example, it's very easy to see why most businesses will not accept Crypto-Currency for big purchases, this is also the weakness of BTC.  The value volatility along with the inability to use it for anything that isn't on the BTC Network makes the true value of BTC nothing more than a very expensive Network gift card.  That is precisely how gift cards work, you use our dollars to buy a plastic card that has a bar code that's worth the same dollar amount in goods at that store.  Outside of that store, the gift card is effectively useless.

How Crypto-Currency can work.

In order for Crypto-Currency to work, it has to be tied to some physical asset.  When someone invests dollars into BTC, they're essentially storing their wealth in a pattern of 1's and 0's on a network.  If Crypto-Currency was tied to a physical asset like Gold, then it would have a very true and concrete value.  If 1 BTC = 1 oz gold coin, it could and would replace the fiat currency of dollars.  It would bring stability and reliability to the Crypto-Currency because your store of value is ultimately in a physical asset.

Why Crypto-Currency has such a Price.

The pricing of BTC is effectively the same as the economy during the COVID Pandemic, it's artificial.

It's artificial because as I wrote earlier, it doesn't have a true value of use.  The pricing of BTC relies entirely on relying that another person will come along and be willing to pay more for the BTC than you did.  If no such person shows up, you end up with not much at all because you can't use it at any business outside of the ones on the BTC Network.

The economy during COVID is artificially suppressed in terms of production of goods and services due to lockdowns and is artificially spurred by the unprecedented levels of printing of dollars.  

BTC has the same problems, it can't be spent on much, yet people in very powerful positions can shift it's value with a single tweet such as Elon Musk.

The Powers that Control Crypto-Currency.

While Crypto-Currencies are unregulated, hence there is no centralized control, it is highly susceptible to control.  Back when BTC was at 29k a few years ago, I was really into following it and the markets and accurately predicted it was going to drop down to under 5k in the next 3 months, within those next 3 months, it had dropped to 3.5k.  I didn't make this prediction because I'm a financial wizard, I was able to predict it for a wide range of reasons.  But mostly what I mentioned in this post.

The difference today isn't those same problems are fixed, they are still present.  The problem that can't be fixed for BTC is that it's too volatile for most companies to accept as a reliable form of payment especially for big purchases.  But the new thing is that many hedge fund managers and high end wealthy people like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Mark Cuban are investing in BTC.  At this point, all of them are speaking out in support of Crypto-Currency.  

This fools the average person because these wealthy people make it sound ground breaking and amazing as if they're going to do something with it so that everyone ends up buying BTC and this raises the value of the BTC they're holding.  They effectively drive up the value with their pro Crypto messages.

Why this fools the average person is because they're not actually willing to accept Crypto-Currencies for their own businesses where they stand to risk losing money, they just want the average person to believe they will or that they're working on it so the average person has faith that eventually BTC will have some actual legitimate value.  Because of this sort of mechanism, BTC's price has skyrocketed and those people who bought in early and hyped up BTC are now rich and in the end, it'll be the poor average person who bough into this messaging that will be left holding the bill.  Tesla proved that recently, although they gave a climate change reason which seems very questionable.

Conclusion.

So to wrap up, should you  buy BTC or any other Crypto?  The choice is yours.  My goal was to inform anyone who reads this about how and why Crypto-Currencies get the dollar values that they do.  If after understanding the truth behind how this works and you're okay with working with that, then go for it.  

The way Crypto-Currencies work don't change and they won't change, they're a gift card for their Network and are only usable at any businesses on those Networks willing to accept them in exchange for goods and services, there is literally NO difference between BTC and a Subway Gift card in terms of how they work, but if someone came up to you to try to sell you a Subway Gift Card for 5k, would you buy it?

Please feel free to leave a comment or write to me.

Personality Traits - My thoughts on Extroversion

Among the Big 5 personality traits, the one that appears to get the most inadvertent attention would be Extroversion.  The reason is because people who are high on this trait exhibit many desirable behaviors.  They are fun, action-oriented, assertive, cheerful, talkative and engaging.  Who wouldn't want to be around them?

Extroverted people are typically very good group leaders and managers.  Because of this trait, they have a knack for creating good rapport and morale within their teams.  They'll lead their teams in a way that will win the hearts of the people because of they can represent everyone's best interest, or at least appear to.  To everyone around them, people high in extroversion will appear as very optimistic about everything.  A trait that goes with extroverted people is that they enjoy being the center of attention.  We might ask, is it because the need for attention that they appear so warm and friendly?  Or is that they really are so fun and cheerful, that the attention they gain is a huge plus that they also enjoy?  In thinking deeper and unpacking these questions leads to 2 two results generally.

If the positive behaviors are driven by the need for attention, then it is reasonable that while on the surface they appear cheerful, inside, they are unhappy because the facade is insincere.  On the other hand, if the behavior is sincere and the attention is a positive by-product, than it is reasonable that they would be experiencing true happiness.  Why is that you might ask.
  
When we set a goal and try to achieve it, we try to carve out a path to that goal.  However, because the goal is the focus, typically the path isn't thoroughly thought out.  If someone is seeking attention, they will employ any method they have at their disposal, even if they don't enjoy it.  We see this behavior in children.  A young child when seeking attention will try to do it nicely first, but then they'll do something they don't really want to do like breaking a rule because that's the only way they can get the attention of their parents.  Many young men who have killed people have done so not because they enjoy it, but because they'd rather do something bad and be notorious rather than be nice and be unknown.
When the goal is seen as a positive by-product, less focus is on that goal and more focus gets set on the path.  Take famous author J.K Rowling, she lived out of the truck, but enjoyed writing.  She didn't write with the goal of making a lot of money, she wrote for the love of writing the stories she created, and we all know how successful the Harry Potter series has become and how much she has benefited from all that love and hard work.

We also see this in celebrities.  When attention isn't necessarily the main goal, we see genuinely happier people.  Think Oprah Winfrey and Tom Hanks.  When attention is the main goal, we have people who appear extremely happy and fun and warm, but inside they're quite sad and alone and suffer in silence like one of my most favorites actors, the late and great Robins Williams.

With Extroversion also comes Introversion.

There is a misconception of Introverted people.  That they are weird and withdrawn like a secluded hermit.  They don't like people and always want to be alone.  This misconception is present because Introverts are seen as synonymous with Shyness.

In their book, The Development of Shyness and Social Withdrawal, authors Schmidt and Buss writes it like this.  "Sociability refers to the motive, strong or weak, of wanting to be with others, whereas shyness refers to behavior when with others, inhibited or uninhibited, as well as feelings of tension and discomfort."  The idea is that while Introverts need good reasons to spend time with a group of people, Shy people are actually afraid of the group setting.

Introverts enjoy spending time with people close to them but also enjoy their alone time.  Being alone doesn't bother the Introvert because they'll spend that time working on their interests and hobbies and are quite satisfied in doing so.  Because of this, they show a greater amount of self-awareness because they do an incredible amount of observing and processing of things around them, and most of their thoughts are inward.  However, they can be perceived as the loner and less likely people will reach out to them.  Being higher on this scale makes one appear more and more reclusive, especially in group settings where long periods of social events drain their energy and focus.

Of course, everyone is a mixed bag of all 5 traits, but one is typically more dominant in most cases.  Extroverted people are great at winning people over and gaining people's loyalty and admiration.  However, it would be prudent to reflect on whether the extroversion behavior we would exhibit would be sincere or are they just a means to an end?  They both have very different outcomes
For Introverted people, they need to balance their lone-wolf mentality with compromises in learning to tolerate more extroverted activities if they want to be included in more events.  Especially with the people they care about.
Interestingly, Extroversion and Introversion share a scale with one another, but depending on which side one leans more too, the less they understand people on the other end.  It's important for both types to take the time to understand each other.

Personality Traits - My Thoughts on Conscientiousness.

This is the 2nd entry to my personality traits series.  In this part, my interest is on Conscientiousness and the effects I see on people.

My interest in this trait is because I'm also a fan of Japan and Japanese culture, a place where this trait is in abundance, so much so, that it is actually the norm.  Much of Japanese cultural teachings is based around being Conscientious.

People who are Conscientious display some very important behaviors and lead to very successful results.  They are high achievers, self-disciplined, neat and careful.  These in turn make for very a hard-working and reliable person.  This trait is so vital in people who are leaders and you find it abundantly in people like Jackie Chan.  From a start in extreme poverty and working hard all his life despite the many injuries he's had.  Jackie is now a global star and philanthropist with 2 charitable foundations.  The Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation that helps victims of natural disasters and helps secure medical aid for people in need.  The Dragon Heart Foundation which assists the elderly and children in China, Europe and Africa.

Conscientious people excel at setting goals and being extremely persistent at attaining those goals even in the face of setbacks.  If they realize that goal is unattainable, they'll readjust their goal to a more attainable one instead of becoming discouraged.  Either way, the goals are typically well within the acceptable range of employers.
Being very organized and adept at planning ahead, allows for consistency in every aspect of life, from work to personal hygiene.
According to the National Institute of Aging, Conscientiousness is linked to income and job satisfaction.  Being punctual and thorough in ones work, along with consideration for colleagues, makes conscientious people vital in group roles in any capacity.  The very nature in how they handle their role, increases the productivity of everyone else.

Conscientiousness is extremely good also because people who exhibit this trait, are also less likely to commit crimes as they like rules and structures and are typically conformists.  Anyone who has been to Japan would instantly understand why it's such a pleasure being there and why Japan has the lowest crime rate of all first world countries.

However, while conscientiousness is terrific in many aspects, like anything else, too much is not necessarily good.  Too far on the conscientiousness scale brings on OCD and frustrations.  Think of an elastic band that's pulled too tight, at some point it will snap!
These people are usually over serious and too uptight.  This leads to the inability to enjoy much of the things life has to offer.  Spontaneity gives excitement and enjoyment on levels that are unrivaled.  Sometimes we just want to be surprised and enjoy the moment.  A person who is overly conscientious will find a spontaneous activity too discomforting.  They will be unhappy and want to return back to order, where they can expect the activity to happen.  They want to be able to plan every moment of every aspect of life.  While this makes for a very effective person, it doesn't quite make for someone who would be a pleasure to be around when attaining a goal isn't the main focus.  Most people I know wouldn't care much to spend off time with someone too serious.  For people who are too conscientious, they need to learn to loosen up.

On the other end of the spectrum, people who lack conscientious typically display a lazy and slob like behavior.  They don't care to follow rules and order, and don't quite take good care of their own personal hygiene.  They don't set goals because don't care to achieve them, they also give up easily in the face of even the slightest challenge.  It's not surprising to think that people of this type don't amount to much success in life, whether it be personal or professional.  
Much of the problem I see with people of this type, is that it is developed:  They grew up as a spoiled child.  Had everything handed to them.  All of life's challenges that teaches vital survival skills were filtered out of their life.  They became entitled and believed entirely that they are "special" and invulnerable.  Every time reality would rear it's head, they hated it and retreated back into their bubble.  At some point in their life, when the people who created the bubble for them are no longer around or unwilling to continue sustaining that bubble, it popped.  These people were faced with reality, but with no skills to survive in it, they end up suffering, badly.
Conscientiousness needs to be fostered, though our base personality would make some of us predisposed to it, without fostering this overly important trait, we could lose it.  And with that, any chances of real success.

Personality Traits - My Thoughts on Agreeableness.

I've been wondering lately about people and their range of agreeableness, and the effects of it.  Everyone has some range of agreeableness, from very little to a lot.  This makes sense, we are after all, social beings.  

In Personality Psychology, there are 5 big personality traits, Agreeableness is 1 of the 5, these are considered the basic dimensions of personality.

Typically speaking, people who are Agreeable have much to gain and do well in life.  They move up the ladder at work, make many friends and are trusted fairly easily.  However, too far on the Agreeable scale opens one up to be taken advantage of and leads to undesirable outcomes.  They get bullied, they take on more stress than is necessary and this can lead to self-resentment.
We all know many people of this type, in fact, you might be one.  Agreeableness is more apparent in women.  Females are hardwired to be Agreeable, this allows them to form bounds with many different people and to keep the peace.  For this reason, they excel in social settings.  However, this trait also leads to taking on more responsibilities, particularly at work.  When a Supervisor or Manager needs someone to do extra work, they know who are the agreeable people in their group.  They know that no matter how much work they pile on, that person will just take it, so they don't think twice about giving more.  The agreeable person just nods and says "Sure.", even though on the inside, they don't want to take on more.  Their stress level goes up as the workload goes up.  As more work gets piled on, the more the resentment builds.  They want to say no, but they can't bring themselves to, because Agreeable people do not like Conflict.  They rather suffer in silence instead of Asserting themselves.  Eventually they burn out, they're tired, grumpy/angry and resent themselves for not being able to say no. 
So while being Agreeable is extremely helpful objectively, subjectively it can be detrimental.

On the other end, we have disagreeable people.  These people can be mean, callous and lack empathy.  These are the people who will step on the backs of others to attain their goals, they are driven by their need to get what they want, no matter what!  This power to drive forward to reach their goal is about the only good thing they have going for them.
If someone is disagreeable, but is well socialized, they are a force to be reckoned with.  Because they will function well in society and they will be a driving force to get things done.  We may know some people who exhibit much of this trait, typically it's executives and CEO's.

We hear this term often, "I'm a self-made man!"  This is a very dishonest claim.  No matter who it is, everyone required help from some one at some point.

Even the richest person in the world, in this case, Jeff Bezos, required his employees and other people around him as he was growing Amazon into the powerhouse it is today.  He had to learn to have a healthy dose of agreeableness to make sure he could get along with his workers and to gain support from his friends and family.  But the disagreeable side of him has led him to grow Amazon from a delivery service to an environment of services.  At this point, Amazon is in the grocery business, online shopping, delivery, film making, AI drones and with plans to move into healthcare.  Obviously being the richest man isn't enough, he has a bigger goal that only he knows.

Of course everyone is a mix of Agreeableness and Disagreeableness, depending on which side we lean more towards, will say a lot about where we're headed.  For people who are too disagreeable, exercising compromises will be a good step towards a better balance.  In the case of people who are too agreeable, the need for learning to assert themselves is a must.

Thoughts about Courage.

When we think of Courage, we typically think of Heroes from books and movies.
But we're not so deluded that we don't realize that normal people can be, and sometimes are Courageous.  I've been thinking about this point because like many people who has faced very tough times, I've had this term applied to me as well, and left me puzzled.

My curiosity got me thinking about unpacking this further.  What makes facing pain, fear or life-risk courageous?  Just because we do?  During the tough time in my life, I never once thought I was being courageous, I just felt that I had to do what I had to do in order to make it through that time.  It eventually came into focus for me, and I realized why we get called courageous in those bad times and what courage really is.  Its the ability to face the truth.  Unwavering and unapologetic in our stance to stand up and face the consequences.

When a fireman goes into that burning building to look for someone who might still be alive.  They are faced with truths that are too scary to most people.  The building could collapse on them, they could succumb to the heat and pass out and much more, but they still push through looking for a glimmer of life to help.  That's where the courage is, facing the truth that they could die in a second, and they face that truth head on and end up with a truly heroic outcome of saving a life.
When someone is critically ill or injured.  The physical pain and suffering they feel is so immense, it's actually easier to give up.  But if they are able to accept the truth, if they do nothing they'll die, they push to live on, now matter how long and hard the road back may be.  The truth of the people in their life loving them, encouraging and supporting them, give them energy and strength.

When we are faced with the truth of a bad situation and accept it and stand up to it, we bring out the courage needed to overcome and triumph.  We get a "second wind" so to speak, and it gives us a strength we never knew existed in us.  When we speak the truth, carefully, not callously or maliciously, we move towards an outcome that's good.  When we can acknowledge the truth that our own thought processes and actions is what led us to the situation we're in, we can adjust our minds to work better.

Courage is in facing the truth of the world, all of the mean and nasty things in it.  But working hard on our ourselves so we can enjoy all of the goodness it has to offer as well.  We all have courage in us, even if it seems sometimes, that it's nowhere to be found.  For some, it comes out like water from a faucet, for others it comes out like ketchup.  Where it clogs and bottle necks, but if we muster up the strength and give ourselves the proverbial whack on the back, it'll come out in abundance.

Universal Basic Income, an Illusion?

There's been many discussions in the political arena these days about Universal Basic Income.  The ideas and talks behind this topic are quite romantic.  However, the way it's largely being suggested by many politicians is less than ideal from many different people.
From Andrew Yang and Bernie Sanders in the USA, to Justin Trudeau in Canada, the idea of UBI has taken on a mutated form that has become to be known as  "Mincome".

Let's first look at the concept of UBI.  It's rather simple really.  UBI is a guaranteed income from the government, free of any obligation from the recipient.  That means, even if one doesn't want to work, one still gets a cheque from the government each month.
There are probably just as many people for UBI as there are people against it.
One of the many pro arguments is made from researchers at the Roosevelt Institute in the US.  They created 3 models and under every scenario, UBI would grow the economy, increase output, employment, prices and wages.  Alaska is the example they draw on, where the implementation of the Alaska Permanent Fund, increased the purchasing power of the recipients and created 10,000 jobs.  The other most popular example in North America is from Dauphin, Manitoba.  In the 1970's, for 5 years, the Canadian government under Pierre Trudeau tested "Mincome", where in the recipients were guaranteed their annual income wouldn't fall below a certain amount.  Manitoba University Economist, Evelyn Forget found that hospital visits for mental health declined by 8.5%, along with a slight decline in work related injuries.
Of the information I have come across, the 2 above pro arguments are most applicable to North America.  However, they have many points that are faulty.  But before, I go over those points, I will go over a few con arguments.
In 2016, Switzerland government opposed implementation of UBI because they said it would entice fewer people to work, thus exacerbating the current labor and skills shortage.  
In 1960's - 1970's UBI tests in the US found that recipients worked fewer hours.
UBI's are less effective than targeted welfare because people in poverty lack more than cash.  UBI does not address addictions, poor health, lack of skills or other factors that contribute to poverty.

With some pros and cons laid out, let's examine them.  
First the pros:  The Roosevelt Institute models definitely seem to be much more static.  It would appear the "human" aspect wasn't likely considered.  Understanding human nature objectively even remotely would allow one to know that as humans, we need incentive to work, to better our situations.  If we're comfortable, we don't typically want to, or try to do more.  Three similar models were created by Luke Martinelli, PhD, Research Associate at the University of Bath in the UK.  He found that across all 3 models, significant amount of individuals and households would be worse off, noting "these losses are not concentrated among richer groups; on the contrary, they are proportionately larger for the bottom 3 income quintiles."  
The conclusions of Evelyn Forget:  It would appear that the areas of decline were more correlating factors rather than causation.  I was unable to find the rates of mental illness from 1970 - 1975 and from 1980 - 1985.  We'd have to see if the mental illness rates went up after the UBI test was completed to have more compelling proof between UBI and the areas of decline.
It would be fair to counter this observation with "what other factors could have and would have contributed to those declines?"

If we examine the cons, we find that they reflect much of what we see in human nature.  Our lives become stagnant if we're given what we need.  This is due to the fact that everyone needs incentives to do things.  That incentive could be empathy, sympathy, idealistic, but the most common one that universally works, is monetary.  Even if we like a certain subject or activity, we will typically not pick the one that doesn't have a monetary reward, because we all need to live and eat.
If we look at the chain of events that are most likely to happen:  People will lose incentive to work, with that comes the lack of improvement in skills and ability which in turn fuel the lack of progress.  But even with these logical negative outcomes, there is one thing that's perhaps the worst idea of all, which is also why I've titled this post "an illusion?"
This is taking Universal Basic Income and turning it into "Mincome".

Universal would mean everyone, old, young, rich, poor, male, female would all get this income.  This would be the fairest representation of UBI.  However, converting it to "Mincome" means it's specifically applicable to one group only, and that's the poor.  We already have many programs in place for people in this category.  Welfare already does what "Mincome" proposes to do.  The problem is that "Mincome" as it's being pushed now, is an addition onto the current Welfare programs.  That's not UBI, that's a "Welfare Addon".  Hiding it under the guise of UBI is actually quite disingenuous.  Not to mention that taxes will have to be raised which typically hurt middle class people who are the economic driving engine of the country.  What makes this is even more unreasonable is that as the people, we don't get to vote on this. 

Giving more money to people who don't make good decisions isn't going to help them, that money will just return to the pockets of the "Capital Overlords."  I feel the solution is in teaching and training people to make better decisions, to want to better themselves because it helps them and everyone else around them.  We can start by passing on the idea that luxury isn't a right, it's a privilege, and we have to work hard to gain those privileges.  Once we've worked to gain those privileges, self-confidence, self-assurance and purpose all follow along, and in turn brings happiness and allows us to treasure and appreciate the fruits of our labor.  Being handed these things only make for people who can't appreciate what they have, who then act and feel in an entitled manner.  


Luke Martinelli, "Exploring the Distributional and Work Incentive Effects of Plausible Illustrative Basic Income Schemes," bath.ac.uk, May 2017

Evelyn L. Forget, "The Town with No Poverty," public.econ.duke.edu, Feb. 2011

The Value of Humility.

I've come to this thought because of a conversation I've had recently with a friend.

The value of Humility is so extraordinary.  I almost never hear humility talked about as a primary attribute.  There's usually a glossing over of it, but I feel that it deserves a bigger spotlight than it has, if it even does.

The meaning of humility is as follows:
"A modest or low view one's own importance; humbleness."
This short little meaning has so much power. 

These are just my opinions of course, but I've come to them from watching people carefully and constantly thinking about people's behaviors and the ways I apply it to my own life.

This goes in hand with my older post of "The importance of Self-Reflection and Self-Correction."  If we think deeply about it, Humility opens the door to growth.  Be it mentally, spiritually, academically and even physically.  Because it lays the foundation for a certain type of mindset, the mindset to be open to learn.  The trait that typically leads to the exact opposite is Pride.  The more proud we are of ourselves, the less open we will be to growth.

If we look at children.  Besides the obviousness of their bodies and brains still in the phases of construction, the reason they learn so quickly is because they don't have pride.  So they learn at rapid pace from anyone or anything they encounter.  As they get older, they become more proud in their abilities and then they feel they don't need to learn anymore.  We see this typically in people who responds with "Yeah I know that!" whenever we tell them anything. 

For someone who has humility in knowledge, they'll take in, absorb and process the information and will find a place to apply it in their lives or discard some of it if they already have something similar in place.  If they're proud in their knowledge and with the pride comes the confidence they're correct, they don't typically take in new information unless the source is credible.  This means the source is usually someone who has some kind of authority.  If the information is coming from a source that doesn't seem credible, they usually reject it outright and not even bother to process it.  This isn't good.  Just because someone has a credible background, it doesn't mean they understand anything of what they are saying.  On the other hand, someone proud may overlook information from someone who may be obscure, but is a treasure chest of fabulous and in-depth knowledge.  

Besides the personal growth potential we'd have access to, humility also allows us to interact with people in a much more pleasant way.  This is because we don't feel full of ourselves when we walk around and feel "YOU need to make way for ME, because I do whatever it is I do." We'd never look down at other people because we'd understand that they may have some area or ability that is above our own.  We'd understand that no matter how good and efficient we become, there's always someone better, so we can acknowledge other people's ability and encourage and support them.  We can understand that because there's people doing more and better than us, that we don't deserve to have what they have, that we can be happy with what we have because we achieved it through our own abilities.  We can accept where we are in life and not feel jealous about other people's life.

Humility opens up all of these doors.  Whether we choose to use this skeleton key to life and walk through those doors on a path to better enlightenment is up to us.  The great thing is this key is unbreakable and can be reused throughout our lifetime.