Manual Curation thoughts

![Paddle on!](https://u.imageresize.org/v2/dcaa56e1-7777-4d87-afe1-408e9bdd09c3.jpeg) ([source](http://www.doomsteaddiner.net/blog/2013/03/16/slavery-survival-of-the-little-fish/))

"In the new world it is not the 'Big Fish which eats the Small fish', it's the 'Fast Fish which eats the Slow fish'"

http://drowningworms.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/How-fast-is-a-pike.gif Few weeks ago I was [musing](https://steemit.com/delegate/@vimukti-ananda/reality-check-delegate-or-perish) about Delegation and in that relation came up with a phrase "Delegate or Perish!". Well, in my present status I can't delegate anything else to anyone - except may be my Attention. Which some say is one of the main things that gets rewarded, monetized, incentivized and generates Value. It is explained in Whitepaper : >The most important principle is that everyone who contributes to a venture should receive pro-rata ownership, payment or debt from the venture... The second principle is that all forms of capital are equally valuable. This means that those who contribute their scarce time and attention toward producing and curating content for others are just as valuable as those who contribute their scarce cash... Steem is designed around a relatively simple concept: everyone’s meaningful contribution to the community should be recognized for the value it adds... > >There are two ways people can get involved with a crypto-currency community: they can buy in, or they can work in. In both cases users are adding value to the currency, however, the vast majority of people have more free time than they do spare cash... Content without curation is of limited value... no individual user should be expected to pay for anything, but instead should be paid for everything they do that brings value to Steem... > >Curating content is expensive and time consuming while being near impossible for computers to perform in the absence of links. Steem rewards users who are among the first to find and identify new content. By incentivising curation the Steem network is able to use automated algorithms to extract the most valuable information from a massive amount of content... So, that "Sweat Equity Principle" mentioned in the Whitepaper confirms that Curation is considered as valuable as Authorship in terms of "Work-In"; in fact as valuable as "Buy-In", i.e. Long-term Investment into the platform (in form of one's Capital in STEEM coins, converted into Steem Power). Because to do the Curation - person also de facto Invests his valuable Time, energy, some skills and ATTENTION! That Attention is spent more so when especially directed through the process of so called "Manual Curation". After all doing something Manually does require much more Attention (then in automated processes) or in fact can't even be done without it at all. Word "Curation" is peculiar one in itself, will have to dedicate some separate post to it. Because as I understand its meaning - is somewhat different from how it is being used on Steemit. Today though I thought that in this regard, for my present status more applies phrase:

"Curate or Perish!"

In the sense that IF I stop doing it - I might as well stop using Steemit, as in Totally. Because What Else would help me to "Advance" from my present state of a "plankton" to at very least some next "Level" in the hierarchy of this "[Steemit Fish-Farm](https://steemit.com/steemit/@vimukti-ananda/ocean-world-of-steemit-ecosystem-votes-farming-and-content-indifference-in-fish-farm)".
![Plankton Hyperia](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e0/Hyperia.jpg/400px-Hyperia.jpg) ([source](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperiidae)) Actually so far "Content Generation" / Authorship of my own posts produced lesser results than from "Curation" (as I've [discussed it elsewhere](https://steemit.com/free/@haccolong/get-free-upvote-daily-when-follow-me#@vimukti-ananda/re-haccolong-get-free-upvote-daily-when-follow-me-20181101t073616292z) recently; [direct link](https://steemitimages.com/p/qjrE4yyfw5pEPvDbJDzhdNXM7mjt1tbr2kM3X28F6SraZfUKFEcWL1Xr5oU7CbiugcPunNp6zQkBKgrS52b5xWCYvivU6ZmuDnnvnB8nzug3mQfsPQ6hCnm4?format=match&mode=fit) to that screen-shot; although in past few days that picture has changed somewhat). To survive among Bigger and Faster Fishes one must keep paddling on even faster. Which means do my best to do that "Curation" thing, as I understand what it includes, means and supposed to be: >"the collection and sorting of information" "gathering information relevant to a particular topic or area of interest..." "select the performers or performances that will feature in..." "select, organize, and present (online content, merchandise, information, etc.), typically using professional or expert knowledge" Which in turn implies actually reading that Content, understanding it, analyzing, comparing, evaluating... BEFORE actually making any final decision - what to "Upvote" or not at all. Especially when it comes to Commenting, giving one's own opinion, participating in whatever related discussions, argumentation, etc.

"Manual Curation" is Delegation and Investing!

So, to for me "Manual Curation" is more than just trivial action of simply clicking on that Upvote button! It is actually Reading or Viewing (if it is graphics, photos, art, etc) or Watching / Listening to (if it is Video or Audio) and then THINKING about it - after all that's what "Proof of Brains" implies, isn't it? Then also quite logically and possibly Commenting on that and / or expressing my own opinions and ideas regarding the things I have read / watched / listened about in that Content published by others - which I have selected to be WORTHY enough for me to Click on its Link, Open it it at least to View - before deciding to Upvote it or not. THEN only I consider my Curation genuine and complete! That's what I think "Manual Curation" is - to me at least. Perhaps also for those other people who adhere to doing it, who even emphasize it on their Profile : "Manual Curator". Oh, and I've almost forgot: also "Asking the right questions"! (as it was rightly [pointed out](https://steemit.com/steem/@lordbutterfly/a-closer-look-at-the-idea-for-increasing-curation-from-kevinwong-and-traf-my-thoughts#@lordbutterfly/re-vimukti-ananda-re-lordbutterfly-a-closer-look-at-the-idea-for-increasing-curation-from-kevinwong-and-traf-my-thoughts-20181106t114757907z) by @lordbutterfly) Certainly such REAL Curation, which IMO can be ONLY Manual - no doubt IS a Delegation AND Investing! It's as valuable as just some Capital in form of STEEM crypto coins for long-term Stakes into the System. Because it is Delegation and Investing of one's Valuable Time and Attention: the PERMANENTLY Valuable Currencies which never Inflate nor get devalued. Perhaps can even say: THE only real Currencies in whole Human History. So, let's get on with it then... :) ![Fish Freedom](https://media.giphy.com/media/12N5F3NM9PB7ag/giphy.gif) ([source](https://imgur.com/gallery/vD05uFf))

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