On Wed, 10 Apr 2002, Pat Farrell wrote:
> Alice trusts money because she can get ice cream cones.
Incorrect, she trusts money because she knows the vendor trusts the money.
Why? Because they are members in a large (reasonably) stable environment
with (relatively) low threat percentages. If it's too hairy the ice cream
man moves on down the road, and the price of bread is so high that nobody
worries about ice cream. Try to buy ice cream in a combat zone.
> Banks exchange bits thru the ACH networks based on
> a belief that their exchange is valid.
No, they exchange bits based on a very expensive and complicated protocol
that has a variety of safe guards built into it.
> Bits are bits, there
> is no way to know that the bits are special; yet there is
> a cultural contract that allows money to move.
The medium is -not- the message. There -is- context. What message does a
telegraph send if the key isn't struck? Cleary the medium in and of itself
can't be the message. What does the message "Billy arrived" mean, if
context isn't important? Does it mean that the killer arrived on time,
that your a grandparent, or that your dog just got to the vet?
This means that yes, -some- bits -are- more special than others.
You and Tim are incorrect in your view. And yes, the question of whether
trust (is) -not- transitive is -especially- critical. It is an -emotional-
measure of the social stability of the populace at large. If people don't
trust they don't -cooperate- and this adds 'friction' to the system. It's
sort of like the PVT gas law coupled with materials science (in particular
failure mode analysis) with respect to when or if the society will 'pop'.
It maps (at least parametrically) to temperature (trust that is).
--
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The law is applied philosophy and a philosphical system is
only as valid as its first principles.
James Patrick Kelly - "Wildlife"
[EMAIL PROTECTED] www.ssz.com
[EMAIL PROTECTED] www.open-forge.org
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