Conditions of early adoption market give advantage to those who don't require a self sustaining balance sheet in the near term. Thus crowd sourced reputation. And you, Norm, can imagine that with what we have already seen in the world. But the special ingredient, in this new open decentralized free nostr world: respect for the individual.

Early nostr reputation was based on prior relationships among early builders, and many early adopters accepted in full this bootstrapping set. But as variety of user base was introduced over time, 'multidimensional heat maps' were among the tools needed to visualize an organically developing landscape of trust.

And, of course, these man made efforts only reflected the ever changing reality. IRL efforts to uphold known humans as early adopters who might hold trustworthy sway over future direction had a downstream effect on the reputation system, as was the case when underfunded HiveTalk became undisputed champion by reputation and practical function alone, and when Sir Sleepy became Nostr's Apparel Czar, from which generations of gigsters would ultimately blossom.

And then there were the wildcards, the trolls, the jesters, and even those with antithetical agenda. They would all. Make up the tapestry. The mosaic. The smorgasbord even. That is nostr