Why Every Upgrade Feels Wrong Until It’s Right

Human beings are creatures of habit. We cling to what we know, to what feels safe and familiar, even when a better alternative is staring us right in the face. History is littered with examples of people scoffing at the very innovations that would later transform civilization. The car was ridiculed as noisy and impractical compared to the trusted horse. The internet was brushed off as a niche toy for nerds in basements, while “serious” people insisted newspapers and television would always dominate. And yet, once the upgrades took hold, nobody ever looked back.

Bitcoin is walking the same path today. It is the car in a world of horses, the internet in a world of newspapers. To many, it feels wrong, too radical, or even dangerous. But history has shown us time and again that every upgrade feels wrong until it’s right.

The Pattern of Resistance

When we examine how society reacts to major upgrades, a clear pattern emerges. At first, there’s ridicule: the new thing is dismissed as a fad or a plaything. Then comes fear: people worry it will disrupt established industries or destabilize life as they know it. Finally, once adoption spreads, the upgrade becomes so integrated into daily life that it feels absurd to imagine the world without it.

The root of resistance lies in comfort. People build their lives around existing systems. Habits, infrastructure, and even identity are tied to what already works. The phrase “if it isn’t broken, don’t fix it” often comes up. But history shows us that most so-called “unbroken” systems are full of inefficiencies and limitations. The cracks don’t become obvious until a new solution reveals them.

Bitcoin is following this script exactly. It exposes flaws in fiat money that people have either ignored or accepted as normal, like inflation, endless debt, and central control. Yet because fiat has been the default for generations, the upgrade feels unnecessary or even absurd to many. Until, of course, it clicks.

Horses vs. Cars

At the turn of the 20th century, the horse was the backbone of society. Horses carried goods, powered carriages, and even served in war. They were dependable, time-tested, and woven into the fabric of daily life. When the automobile appeared, people laughed. The car was dangerous, noisy, and prone to breaking down. It required gasoline and mechanical knowledge. Horses, by contrast, ran on grass and oats and were “self-replicating.”

Newspapers from the time show cartoons mocking cars as death traps. Some cities even passed laws requiring a man with a flag to walk in front of an automobile to warn pedestrians. Critics scoffed, saying, “Why would anyone choose this expensive contraption when horses work just fine?”

But progress isn’t about staying “just fine.” Cars solved problems horses could not. They were faster, more efficient, and didn’t leave behind tons of manure in crowded city streets. Still, society had to adapt: roads were paved, fueling stations were built, traffic laws were created, and insurance became standard. These changes were disruptive. Yet once the transformation was complete, the car became the obvious choice. Nobody today argues for bringing back horse-drawn transport as the dominant mode of travel.

Bitcoin is at the same stage as the early car. Critics argue it’s risky, volatile, and unnecessary when fiat “works just fine.” But just like the horse, fiat’s limitations will become undeniable once Bitcoin scales.

Newspapers vs. The Internet

The rise of the internet provides another powerful comparison. In the 1990s, the internet was considered a fringe technology. Skeptics claimed it was a passing fad. Even Nobel laureate Paul Krugman infamously predicted the internet would have no more impact on the economy than the fax machine. Traditional newspapers and television dismissed it as unreliable and unserious. After all, who would get their news from a computer when the morning paper or evening broadcast worked perfectly well?

Yet as the internet matured, the benefits became undeniable. Information was instant, global, and abundant. A single blog post could reach more people than the circulation of a major newspaper. Social media platforms gave everyone a voice, and suddenly, news cycles shifted from daily to real-time. The newspaper industry, once untouchable, collapsed under the weight of the upgrade.

At first, people resisted. They didn’t trust information online. They preferred the feel of paper, the authority of a newsroom. But over time, habits changed. Today, the internet is the default. We trust Google for answers, scroll social media for updates, and stream news rather than waiting for the 6 o’clock broadcast. The old world didn’t disappear completely, newspapers still exist, but they are relics of a bygone era. The internet won.

Bitcoin stands where the internet once stood. It is dismissed as unserious, mocked as a toy for tech geeks and libertarians. But the infrastructure is growing: exchanges, payment processors, custodial and non-custodial wallets, the Lightning Network for instant transactions. Just like the internet’s early days, it feels clunky and even chaotic. But once the upgrade matures, it will feel absurd that anyone ever doubted it.

Bitcoin: The Upgrade of Money

Money is humanity’s oldest and most important social technology. It’s the tool that allows us to coordinate, trade, and build civilizations. But fiat money, government-issued currency, has cracks. Inflation silently erodes wealth. Governments and banks can print at will, bail out their friends, and manipulate economies. Ordinary people bear the costs, often without realizing it.

Bitcoin offers an upgrade. It is decentralized, transparent, and capped at 21 million coins. No central authority can debase it. Transactions are secured by the most powerful computer network in history. Ownership is direct and doesn’t require trust in a middleman. Yet to many, it feels wrong. It’s too different, too technical, too volatile. Just like cars once felt compared to horses, and the internet once felt compared to newspapers.

Skeptics cling to fiat because it feels familiar. They dismiss Bitcoin as a speculative bubble or a passing trend. They point to its energy use, its price swings, its “lack of backing.” But these criticisms echo the doubts people had about cars (“they’re too dangerous”), the internet (“too unreliable”), and countless other innovations that are now indispensable. The criticisms are part of the adoption curve, not proof of failure.

Why It Feels Wrong First

So why do upgrades feel wrong at first? Because they clash with our mental models. People build expectations around the systems they grew up with. Upgrades demand new habits, new infrastructure, and new thinking. That’s uncomfortable.

The car required roads and gas stations. The internet required fiber cables, servers, and new laws about online content. Bitcoin requires wallets, exchanges, new forms of accounting, and a shift in how we view value. All of this feels overwhelming at first. But that discomfort isn’t proof the upgrade won’t work, it’s simply the turbulence of transition.

Change also feels wrong because it disrupts power structures. Carriage makers, horse breeders, and blacksmiths feared cars because they threatened their livelihoods. Newspaper moguls fought the internet because it undermined their monopolies on information. Banks and governments fear Bitcoin for the same reason, it shifts power away from them and into the hands of individuals.

Why It Feels Right Later

Once upgrades mature, the benefits become undeniable. Cars allowed faster travel, trade, and urban expansion. The internet gave us global knowledge at our fingertips, communication without borders, and platforms for creativity and connection. The old ways now seem slow, clunky, and outdated.

Bitcoin will follow this same path. Once people see that it protects their wealth from inflation, enables instant global payments, and operates without middlemen, fiat money will feel as outdated as horse-drawn carriages or dial-up internet. Just as nobody today argues for going back to daily newspapers as their only source of news, few will advocate for returning to centrally controlled, endlessly inflated fiat once Bitcoin adoption spreads.

Conclusion

Every upgrade in history has followed the same arc: ridicule, resistance, then inevitability. The car replaced the horse. The internet replaced newspapers. Bitcoin will replace fiat. It may feel wrong today, just as past upgrades once did. But history is clear: once the transition is complete, the upgrade feels obvious, inevitable, and irreversible.

Every upgrade feels wrong until it’s right. Bitcoin is today’s misunderstood upgrade, the car in a world of horses, the internet in a world of newspapers. History tells us what comes next: adoption, transformation, and a future where we wonder how anyone could have ever doubted it.

---