X-Message-Number: 10909
From: 
Date: Fri, 11 Dec 1998 20:49:18 -0600 (CST)
Subject: Re: The death of money

Perry E. Metzger wrote:

>You have very little imagination.  

and also

>You have no imagination. 

Please pick one.  I can't "imagine" which you are saying is more true of me!


Anyway, setting aside the very real flaws with my mind (just ask my wife!), you 
wrote:

>So long as there are limited numbers of atoms and energy in the
>universe, and so long as no two objects can be in the same place,
>some entity will doubtless covet other entities' resources.

I can see that.

Before money, people coveted.

After money, they will undoubtedly still covet.

When money becomes extinct, human desires will remain.

>You have no imagination. You can't see why people would want to do new
>things, beyond what is done now. Even completely obvious needs like
>resource demands for raw computation are beyond the scope of what you
>believe in.

Imagine this.


Imagine wanting things that do not require negotiation with other humans 
(trade).

When automation finally replaces the need for human labor, money will die.

Another way to consider this is by means of the current marketplace mentality.

When any supply exceeds demand, the price drops.

When supply rises enough, the price drops toward zero.

When supply is unlimited, the price reaches zero.

Automation can affect supply in just this manner.

When automation creates an unlimited supply of food, money dies for food.


I can imagine (sorry!) that whatever someone creates or invents can be 
replicated by machines.


Even now force (legal systems backed by guns) is needed to enforce paying money 
for 
"copyrighted" work instead of just copying it.


Because machines can duplicate music, writing, etc., force is used to keep money
involved.

Except when it isn't byt those nasty pirates (or nations like China).

Regarding making someone's brain the size of a planet (or whatever)...

The concept of "ownership" is strictly one of use or control.

You use or control something you "own".


When you can "own" (use or control) virtually anything you want (as Professor 
Ettinger also 

suggested even if only by means of virtual reality), what can any one "give" you
for something 
you "own" in order to buy it?

Money will only retain meaning as long as what we buy with it has scarcity.

When supply increases, prices drop.

When all prices drop to zero, money is dead.


When the current trend of automation ends MOST scarcity, money will be 
increasingly restricted 
to only those categories retaining scarcity.


The only disagreement we have is that I can "imagine" (sorry again!) machines 
which will be able 
to do ANYTHING you can or will ever do.

Then whatever you do will be "worthless" because it will be automated.

And everything I do will be "worthless" too for the same reason.

Why?


Because "worth" based on "trade consciousness" will be as useless and 
anachronistic as the buggy 
whip.

Money will have died.

But WE will still live and love and laugh.


So don't sweat blood over whether or not you can find a way to preserve your 
money while you may 
be frozen.


By the time you are revived, the chances are excellent that money will either be
on the way out 
or already gone.

Imagine that!

See you there! :)

-George Smith

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