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Nobody is thinking about what you just said before buying bitcoin. And you know it. And actually they might not be as ignorant as you might think. You have no

Nobody is thinking about what you just said before buying bitcoin. And you know it. And actually they might not be as ignorant as you might think. You have no control over Macroeconomics so you might as well play the game in order to have "your number going up" and let the Macroeconomic chips fall where they may. Regardless of where the macroeconomics chips fall...you'd be better off with a higher number than a lower number.

kybernetikos 5y ago
> you'd be better off with a higher number than a lower number. A small proportion of a big pie can be much more filling than a large proportion of a small pie. But yes, whether running a whole economy on a deflationary currency is a good idea is an entirely separate question to whether some use of bitcoin makes sense. Having said that, and speaking for at least myself, the (in my opinion) misguided narrative around deflation and 'store of value' that is common in bitcoin core world makes me much more interested in bitcoin cash and ethereum commmunities where niche economic philosophies I don't agree with are not as common as in bitcoin core. There are so many interesting things we can do with smart contracts and a widespread settlement system that doesn't have gatekeepers. Creating value is much more interesting than storing it.
- ObserverNeutral 5y ago
  > A small proportion of a big pie can be much more filling than a large proportion of a small pie. This is for sure. But with regards to pure "increasing one's net worth while sitting on the couch" then deflationary is always better than inflationary. Of course there are other considerations. For sure there is a currency more deflationary than USD, but such currency doesn't give you access to the US equity and bond markets. So what you lose on the inflation side you recoup with the use side. > Having said that, and speaking for at least myself, the (in my opinion) misguided narrative around deflation and 'store of value' that is common in bitcoin core world makes me much more interested in bitcoin cash and ethereum commmunities where niche economic philosophies I don't agree with are not as common as in bitcoin core. I think if we are talking price prediction, then the only people who invest in crypto are the ones who embrace a "misguided narrative around deflation" Those who have an academic view around deflation won't ever invest. Those who don't care and stick to predicting price such as myself will invest in moderation to trade on the true believers we just mentioned.
- medvezhenok 5y ago
  > A small proportion of a big pie can be much more filling than a large proportion of a small pie. That works for pies, but not necessarily for human psychology. Rationally, yes, you'd prefer to have more in absolute value, but humans are not rational - they work on relative comparisons. Having more of a small pie gives you an advantage in mate selection, influence (political/social) and options. So the richest man in a village that has $X is probably happier than the wall-street banker that has $10X but is surrounded by people who have $100X. That's just how our psychology works.
  - ObserverNeutral 5y ago
    > So the richest man in a village that has $X is probably happier than the wall-street banker that has $10X but is surrounded by people who have $100X The internet and widespread access to statistics and lifestyle content has sort of ruined that. The guy in the village is happy as long as he doesn't turn the TV on, or goes on forbes.com to take a look at the billionaires index
    - medvezhenok 5y ago
      Not exactly, since there still has to be a proximity effect. You might see rich people on TV, but you're not in direct competition with them for anything. It's about your relative standing with regards to people who you actually compare yourselves to (like other people around your rank in the dating markets, for example)
      - ObserverNeutral 5y ago
        Of course you are in direct competition. Look at the village boss net worth vs Bezos. We all measure our success with net worth in dollars. That plus the internet changed the game. Now we approximately know each person net worth and especially the net worth of the leaders in the standings. Also just because Bezos is not around the village to steal your girl doesn't mean you don't think and predict what would happen if he were to come to the village and hit on your girl.

kybernetikos 5y ago

> you'd be better off with a higher number than a lower number. A small proportion of a big pie can be much more filling than a large proportion of a small pie. But yes, whether running a whole economy on a deflationary currency is a good idea is an entirely separate question to whether some use of bitcoin makes sense. Having said that, and speaking for at least myself, the (in my opinion) misguided narrative around deflation and 'store of value' that is common in bitcoin core world makes me much more interested in bitcoin cash and ethereum commmunities where niche economic philosophies I don't agree with are not as common as in bitcoin core. There are so many interesting things we can do with smart contracts and a widespread settlement system that doesn't have gatekeepers. Creating value is much more interesting than storing it.

ObserverNeutral 5y ago
> A small proportion of a big pie can be much more filling than a large proportion of a small pie. This is for sure. But with regards to pure "increasing one's net worth while sitting on the couch" then deflationary is always better than inflationary. Of course there are other considerations. For sure there is a currency more deflationary than USD, but such currency doesn't give you access to the US equity and bond markets. So what you lose on the inflation side you recoup with the use side. > Having said that, and speaking for at least myself, the (in my opinion) misguided narrative around deflation and 'store of value' that is common in bitcoin core world makes me much more interested in bitcoin cash and ethereum commmunities where niche economic philosophies I don't agree with are not as common as in bitcoin core. I think if we are talking price prediction, then the only people who invest in crypto are the ones who embrace a "misguided narrative around deflation" Those who have an academic view around deflation won't ever invest. Those who don't care and stick to predicting price such as myself will invest in moderation to trade on the true believers we just mentioned.
medvezhenok 5y ago
> A small proportion of a big pie can be much more filling than a large proportion of a small pie. That works for pies, but not necessarily for human psychology. Rationally, yes, you'd prefer to have more in absolute value, but humans are not rational - they work on relative comparisons. Having more of a small pie gives you an advantage in mate selection, influence (political/social) and options. So the richest man in a village that has $X is probably happier than the wall-street banker that has $10X but is surrounded by people who have $100X. That's just how our psychology works.
- ObserverNeutral 5y ago
  > So the richest man in a village that has $X is probably happier than the wall-street banker that has $10X but is surrounded by people who have $100X The internet and widespread access to statistics and lifestyle content has sort of ruined that. The guy in the village is happy as long as he doesn't turn the TV on, or goes on forbes.com to take a look at the billionaires index
  - medvezhenok 5y ago
    Not exactly, since there still has to be a proximity effect. You might see rich people on TV, but you're not in direct competition with them for anything. It's about your relative standing with regards to people who you actually compare yourselves to (like other people around your rank in the dating markets, for example)
    - ObserverNeutral 5y ago
      Of course you are in direct competition. Look at the village boss net worth vs Bezos. We all measure our success with net worth in dollars. That plus the internet changed the game. Now we approximately know each person net worth and especially the net worth of the leaders in the standings. Also just because Bezos is not around the village to steal your girl doesn't mean you don't think and predict what would happen if he were to come to the village and hit on your girl.