G. Sachs wrote:
> This is starting to get really off the topic of RP (free or otherwise)
I agree. By all means anyone tell me to shut up...
> ... but since you brought it up, again, I think you are trying to make a
> very 'stretchy/sketchy argument', since in many systems of barter, you
> don't immediately get anything in exchange for what you give and so have
> to trust those whom you're bartering with that they will return the
> favor.
Yes - exactly! And in nature there are, I contend, no _tokens_ of such
trust. In particular, no organism A can give a token to B, who can then
give the same token on to C, who can then 'spend' it.
In nature, trust always works by direct recognition, memory and
reciprocity. (That, incidentally, is the reason why we are uniquely
good at distinguishing people's faces. There is a PhD thesis to be
written there on why more-or-less all banknotes and coins feature faces...)
> P.S. What do you mean by 'very difficult to forge' and how does that
> enter into your argument? Frankly, I think I forgot what point you were
> originally trying to make.
That money can't survive in a world where anyone can make anything they
want (including money...).
Best wishes
Adrian
Dr Adrian Bowyer
http://people.bath.ac.uk/ensab
http://reprap.org
Received on Wed Jan 06 23:20:13 2010
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