Yes, we are ahead in terms of knowledge but it is what you decide to do with this knowledge that will truly put you ahead of your peers and the rest of the world. Congratulations if you know about bitcoin and you are still interested in it. But it does not neither should it stop there. Keep learning. Keep working hard. The path to success is just starting.

When I first came to the world of cryptocurrencies. It seemed to me that this was an incredibly technologically advanced space. And that literally in a couple of years absolutely every guy who more or less understands information technologies will come here, and so I was very glad that I was among the first.
Well, almost 10 years have passed, and I know a lot of smart people who still say that cryptocurrencies are evil or speculative topics, without understanding blockchain technology and even minimally not having read a couple of articles about it. That is, apparently, that cryptocurrencies really are some kind of natural selection and all those who are here are really smart great guys. Enthusiasts.

If what OP means by "if you're still here, you're already ahead" is referring to us on this forum, I think that he's right to a large extent. Being in an active member of this forum makes you to most often read and engage in Bitcoin related topics and always talk about it. Almost every member of this forum should be a Bitcoiner and it will encourage newbies to develop interest and increase their knowledge. However holding Bitcoin is another thing entirely, our level of acceptance differs, some will believe with all their hearts that Bitcoin is the ultimate asset for investment. They will make long term plans to DCA for many circles in the future. Others are going with the flow, they want to sell at any opportunity to take profit and wait for dip to get in again. The rest could be a place to come and interact about Bitcoin and altcoins.

If the purpose of this thread was created based on my comprehension, then the OP is   right about one thing, he is right that being on the forum is a one step ahead. Being ahead doesn't mean that every forum members must be holding a lot of Bitcoin first, it could even be a newbie that is just starting to invest but realistically speaking, if you are on this forum reading and learning, you will be more savvy than some people who are not on the forum, most Bitcoinist outside this forum are not expert of Bitcoin investment and what they do is to follow different information randomly whether good or bad. 
For example, when Bitcoin price started dumping some people on social media were saying all manners of shit about Bitcoin price, they said that the price will dump to nothing, the people that were making this statement are no experts nor are they Bitcoin investors or analyst but they just make random shit comment and there are so many greenhorns that will follow those misleading statements meanwhile if they were to be on this forum, they will be guided better.

I don't know what you are talking about because I have seen more activity than usual during this drop even though most of the people making posts or asking questions or posting screenshots were those who were afraid that they are going to lose their money and that they've made an entry at the wrong time, but among them, some were those who were making full use of the situation, buying their favorite coins and tokens that they wanted to buy but thought were very expensive.

For me, it was one last chance for everyone to buy and store whatever they wanted before the next wave of the bull run. I know it's not guaranteed, but at least most of us are hoping that we are going to see Bitcoin going above the current all-time high, maybe at the end of this year or maybe at the beginning of the next year, but at least it will go back above $100k once before the bear run begins.

Op you did great, this is not the first time the price of bitcoin has dipped after a bullish season so experiences like this are expected in market, however in seasons like this, enthusiasts give up their holding by selling their accumulated coins probably because of the fear of losing their money to a continuous down trend which is likely not to happen in bitcoin but in reality they are the ones forcing losses on themselves because bitcoin investment has been known as a long term profitable project so why bother yourself on temporary market changes which can easily retrace back the original overall movement. Newbies are usually the majority in this category of persons who panic on small price changes.

I thought you mean those on the forum are ones you meant to be ahead, not knowing you are referring to the ones that stay steadfast during the short period of crypto crash. It seems you are experiencing this kind of period in the crypto market the first time and I'm going to let you know this is normal. That is how the movement had been from the day of it's creation up till today

Don't be surprised to see the price of Bitcoin crashes down significantly to the lowest point and it may stay down for some couple of months, you just have to be lucky because this phase of the market is a bullish period where every crashes down doesn't last longer.

It is true that those who got into Bitcoin earlier are certainly many times ahead of us, especially those who bought Bitcoin at the beginning of its discovery and have held it to this day. They have come so far that they no longer need to look back. However, only those who are wise and have a good understanding of the future have bought Bitcoin and planned to hold it for the long term, and have continued to hold it until now. However, those who could not predict Bitcoin and even buy and hold Bitcoin could not gain any benefit from knowing about Bitcoin before us. However, it is not necessary to know about Bitcoin in advance, but rather to understand the importance of Bitcoin and its far-reaching importance in the future and work according to that plan.

Nice write up, i can't say for sure that we are ahead but i know we are always informed this is the lapses of a lot of miners they're not informed, and am grateful to be a part of this wonderful forum, the shared ideas, the constant information am really grateful kudos!