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The article asserts this: "All technologies eventually become outdated" There are easy counterexamples: * Wheels * Fire * Knives These are technologies th

The article asserts this: "All technologies eventually become outdated" There are easy counterexamples: * Wheels * Fire * Knives These are technologies that predate written records (did I mention writing as another example?) yet they all remain use and are actually fundamental in our daily lives. I am not going to claim that fiat currency will be so enduring, but I see no reason to assume that it will be replaced by anything short of a post-scarcity age.

tobykier 13y ago
fire superseded by central heating and electric fires knives superseded by guns (weapons) and fork (cutlery). I'll give you the wheel only because I'm still waiting for my hovercar
- xylem 13y ago
  I'd like to see how you cut bread with a gun or a fork.
  - zanny 13y ago
    I'll just use a concentrated laser to cut my steak! And char broil it at the same time!
- to3m 13y ago
  I don't know where you live, but the central heating in my house has a fire in it. That's how the water heats up! And for more localized heating, the heat given off by some kind of flame also seems to be commonly preferred to that from an electric "fire". Fires are also better for everyday domestic cooking, whether due to basic usability (in the case of a hob) or warm-up time (in the case of a grill or oven). Passing electricity through bits of metal until they heat up is fine, but I don't appear to be unique in my feeling that simply setting stuff aflame works better. So all in all, I don't see the humble fire going anywhere. (Lest you think I'm a stick-in-the-mud, do note that I fully approve of the use of electric light over candles.)
- stinkytaco 13y ago
  >fire superseded by central heating and electric fires Last I checked, my gas furnace was basically a controlled fire.
- betterunix 13y ago
  Fire is not just about heating your home. Fire is used for cooking, it is used to generate electrical power, it is used in vehicles of various kinds (cars, airplanes, ships, rockets, etc.), it is used in various chemical and industrial processes, and there are hundreds of other uses. Knives are not just weapons, and if you think forks can replace knives then you have never actually cooked anything more complicated than instant ramen. Go to your favorite restaurant's kitchen, and you will see lots of knives, specialized for various purposes. Knives are among the most useful tools ever invented. Quite a few people (myself included) carry a pocket knife or multitool (which almost always includes a knife) everywhere. There are a lot of situations in life that call for cutting things. "I'll give you the wheel only because I'm still waiting for my hovercar" Your hovercar will probably have wheels, unless you think there will be no need to cool any of those high-tech components (or that the cooling will be accomplished without any fans -- I doubt it). Even if we had a world of hovercars, there would be wheels all over the place, in various machines both in our homes and in factories and other industrial settings.
tobykier 13y ago
fire superseded by central heating and electric fires knives superseded by guns (weapons) and fork (cutlery). I'll give you the wheel only because I'm still waiting for my hovercar
thaumasiotes 13y ago
> I am not going to claim that fiat currency will be so enduring I don't get what you're trying to say. Bitcoin is a fiat currency.
- stinkytaco 13y ago
  He means to distinguish it from currencies that have value by government fiat. You cannot require businesses to take bitcoin like the US government requires them to take cash.
  - thaumasiotes 13y ago
    > You cannot require businesses to take bitcoin like the US government requires them to take cash. How exactly does the US government require businesses to take cash? I briefly looked into the state of the law concerning this, and there were two lessons that people discussing it take pains to pound into the reader: 1. Those places that say "we will not accept $20 bills" are on completely safe ground, legally. 2. The text "this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" on US paper currency was added for historical reasons and has no legal meaning.
- betterunix 13y ago
  Fiat currencies have value because of laws.
  - thaumasiotes 13y ago
    This is only true if the relevant government sets prices by law. Every time that's been tried, it's been a complete disaster.
    - betterunix 13y ago
      ...or if the law requires certain payments to be made (taxes, fines, etc.), provides legal protections for creditors when people default on their debts, and gives courts the legal power to require one person to pay another. This is what drives the demand for fiat currencies, and as long as the supply remains limited the currency will have value.

tobykier 13y ago

fire superseded by central heating and electric fires knives superseded by guns (weapons) and fork (cutlery). I'll give you the wheel only because I'm still waiting for my hovercar

xylem 13y ago
I'd like to see how you cut bread with a gun or a fork.
- zanny 13y ago
  I'll just use a concentrated laser to cut my steak! And char broil it at the same time!
to3m 13y ago
I don't know where you live, but the central heating in my house has a fire in it. That's how the water heats up! And for more localized heating, the heat given off by some kind of flame also seems to be commonly preferred to that from an electric "fire". Fires are also better for everyday domestic cooking, whether due to basic usability (in the case of a hob) or warm-up time (in the case of a grill or oven). Passing electricity through bits of metal until they heat up is fine, but I don't appear to be unique in my feeling that simply setting stuff aflame works better. So all in all, I don't see the humble fire going anywhere. (Lest you think I'm a stick-in-the-mud, do note that I fully approve of the use of electric light over candles.)
stinkytaco 13y ago
>fire superseded by central heating and electric fires Last I checked, my gas furnace was basically a controlled fire.
betterunix 13y ago
Fire is not just about heating your home. Fire is used for cooking, it is used to generate electrical power, it is used in vehicles of various kinds (cars, airplanes, ships, rockets, etc.), it is used in various chemical and industrial processes, and there are hundreds of other uses. Knives are not just weapons, and if you think forks can replace knives then you have never actually cooked anything more complicated than instant ramen. Go to your favorite restaurant's kitchen, and you will see lots of knives, specialized for various purposes. Knives are among the most useful tools ever invented. Quite a few people (myself included) carry a pocket knife or multitool (which almost always includes a knife) everywhere. There are a lot of situations in life that call for cutting things. "I'll give you the wheel only because I'm still waiting for my hovercar" Your hovercar will probably have wheels, unless you think there will be no need to cool any of those high-tech components (or that the cooling will be accomplished without any fans -- I doubt it). Even if we had a world of hovercars, there would be wheels all over the place, in various machines both in our homes and in factories and other industrial settings.

tobykier 13y ago

fire superseded by central heating and electric fires knives superseded by guns (weapons) and fork (cutlery). I'll give you the wheel only because I'm still waiting for my hovercar

thaumasiotes 13y ago

> I am not going to claim that fiat currency will be so enduring I don't get what you're trying to say. Bitcoin is a fiat currency.

stinkytaco 13y ago
He means to distinguish it from currencies that have value by government fiat. You cannot require businesses to take bitcoin like the US government requires them to take cash.
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  > You cannot require businesses to take bitcoin like the US government requires them to take cash. How exactly does the US government require businesses to take cash? I briefly looked into the state of the law concerning this, and there were two lessons that people discussing it take pains to pound into the reader: 1. Those places that say "we will not accept $20 bills" are on completely safe ground, legally. 2. The text "this note is legal tender for all debts, public and private" on US paper currency was added for historical reasons and has no legal meaning.
betterunix 13y ago
Fiat currencies have value because of laws.
- thaumasiotes 13y ago
  This is only true if the relevant government sets prices by law. Every time that's been tried, it's been a complete disaster.
  - betterunix 13y ago
    ...or if the law requires certain payments to be made (taxes, fines, etc.), provides legal protections for creditors when people default on their debts, and gives courts the legal power to require one person to pay another. This is what drives the demand for fiat currencies, and as long as the supply remains limited the currency will have value.