4 ms·

Strictly speaking I can speculate that the next card in the deck is an ace. Time to invest - Hit! But the point is defining investment so widely as to include

Strictly speaking I can speculate that the next card in the deck is an ace. Time to invest - Hit! But the point is defining investment so widely as to include this sort of behavior just devalues the term.

ThomPete 9y ago
Investing in financial schemes is investing by the very definition of the word.
- frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
  I think a definition of investing which sees, for example, picking penny stocks as gambling and not investing is more useful. Really it's a gradient and I can't tell you where exactly to draw the line but there's a difference.
  - ThomPete 9y ago
    That really depends on whether the proponents are right or not.
    - frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
      I don't think you can define 'investing' in such a post hoc way. A winning poker hand isn't an investment, neither is a good penny stock pick.
      - ThomPete 9y ago
        I don't have to. A financial scheme is an investment and bitcoin is more than that even if it doesn't succeed.
        frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
        But here you're just pushing a bad definition of investment off onto a bad definition of 'financial scheme.' Now we have to figure out what entails a 'financial scheme.' It seems to me that taking my money and putting it on black could be called a financial scheme so we still haven't gotten anywhere in what is and isn't an investment, unless you don't believe in a distinction between gambling and investment.
        ThomPete 9y ago
        Bitcoin is not just casino though there is actual known and potential uses of bitcoin one is as a currency. Now you might not believe that it will succeed(i don't) but that still makes it wildly different than just putting money on red. I have no doubt that bitcoin is a good investment in the long run.
        frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
        >Bitcoin is not just casino though there is actual known and potential uses of bitcoin one is as a currency. Except several vendors have recently started dropping it as a currency primarily because a currency which is deflationary makes a good investment and a terrible currency. Bitcoin has no use-case, or maybe you can disillusion me and tell me what you've done other than hold it? Besides, what this thread has illustrated to me is that bitcoin is a gamble, same as a penny stock.
        ThomPete 9y ago
        That's not an argument against what I said.
        frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
        You said Bitcoin is valuable because it has use cases. I said it doesn't have use cases. That's an argument. As well, you're drawing a distinction between walking up to a craps table and putting money on red and logging on to a brokerage account and putting money on penny stock XXX. I see those as the same things. You've also used a post hoc definition of investment, one where if the bet is good it's an investment. You've also deferred investment to mean any 'financial scheme' but never defined financial scheme. I take issue with all these things.

ThomPete 9y ago

Investing in financial schemes is investing by the very definition of the word.

frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
I think a definition of investing which sees, for example, picking penny stocks as gambling and not investing is more useful. Really it's a gradient and I can't tell you where exactly to draw the line but there's a difference.
- ThomPete 9y ago
  That really depends on whether the proponents are right or not.
  - frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
    I don't think you can define 'investing' in such a post hoc way. A winning poker hand isn't an investment, neither is a good penny stock pick.
    - ThomPete 9y ago
      I don't have to. A financial scheme is an investment and bitcoin is more than that even if it doesn't succeed.
      - frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
        But here you're just pushing a bad definition of investment off onto a bad definition of 'financial scheme.' Now we have to figure out what entails a 'financial scheme.' It seems to me that taking my money and putting it on black could be called a financial scheme so we still haven't gotten anywhere in what is and isn't an investment, unless you don't believe in a distinction between gambling and investment.
        ThomPete 9y ago
        Bitcoin is not just casino though there is actual known and potential uses of bitcoin one is as a currency. Now you might not believe that it will succeed(i don't) but that still makes it wildly different than just putting money on red. I have no doubt that bitcoin is a good investment in the long run.
        frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
        >Bitcoin is not just casino though there is actual known and potential uses of bitcoin one is as a currency. Except several vendors have recently started dropping it as a currency primarily because a currency which is deflationary makes a good investment and a terrible currency. Bitcoin has no use-case, or maybe you can disillusion me and tell me what you've done other than hold it? Besides, what this thread has illustrated to me is that bitcoin is a gamble, same as a penny stock.
        ThomPete 9y ago
        That's not an argument against what I said.
        frgtpsswrdlame 9y ago
        You said Bitcoin is valuable because it has use cases. I said it doesn't have use cases. That's an argument. As well, you're drawing a distinction between walking up to a craps table and putting money on red and logging on to a brokerage account and putting money on penny stock XXX. I see those as the same things. You've also used a post hoc definition of investment, one where if the bet is good it's an investment. You've also deferred investment to mean any 'financial scheme' but never defined financial scheme. I take issue with all these things.