I'm currently in my third year of a Chemistry-Physics degree, so I'm actually quite familiar with units. Don't worry, you're not fucked in the head, your reasoning is just slightly off.

Let me give you an example of a time when we made a change to our definition of a very common unit:

The metre, a well know unit of measurement, was once defined by a standard platinum bar. The bar was created to act as the universally agreed upon definition of 1 metre, and was therefore by definition exactly one metre long. This was consistent to within a certain degree, but of course changes in e.g. temperature/pressure could in fact cause the length to vary slightly. Parameters were introduced to improve the consistency (specific temperature and pressure at which the length of the bar would considered to be exactly one metre) but unfortunately, using a physical object to act as a benchmark can never be as accurate as the scientific community would like.

It was therefore decided that we should redefine the metre, without using a physical object. Einstein had shown, in his theory of relativity, that the speed of light is in fact a universal constant when measured within the same medium. It therefore made sense to redefine the metre in terms of this unchanging physical constant. Our definition of the metre is now 'The length of the path travelled by light in a vacuum in 1⁄299,792,458 of a second'

Your idea that units must be 'equal to something that is objectively real', while it may seem somewhat intuitive, is actually a slight misunderstanding. The fact that it is so difficult to find consistency in objective reality is what makes the task of measuring things so tricky.

Back to Bitcoin:

Bitcoin is actually a great starting point if we want to define a system of measurement for value. What we are effectively doing is defining a standard unit of value, i.e. 1 bitcoin, which can act as a universal constant similar to the speed of light in the example above. Now we have our benchmark (which doesn't fluctuate due to changes in temperature/pressure etc.), and we can start to decide how to value everything else in comparison to it. (notice that making measurements always boils down to making comparisons between things)

Of course, being so new, and being introduced to a society who are so used to valuing things in a different way (namely whichever fiat currency they grew up with), make things more complicated (as well as a million other things, economics can't really be compared with science due to the numerous factors to consider, but we're talking about units here). We are still in price discovery phase with people having to shift their perspectives and adjust. It is yet to be seen whether or not the population as a whole will accept this new measurement system.

The problem of making measurements and defining units is and always had been at the heart of the scientific discipline. Its an interesting subject, and there's a great deal of understanding to be gained by studying it in a bit more depth.

im listening...

sorry if im probably missing something obv but if i had multiple data streams (say 3 exchanges) with different sample rates or missing values or whatever, i would interpolate each data stream to a common timeseries and then combine (average) the data. and would probably weight the inputs by volume

What happens to Bitcoin when over 50% of it is owned by wealthy elites? Time to pump something else?

First vertical line is the start of the "Gold: I smell a trap" thread.

Second vertical line is the start of this thread.

Yeah, I was not obviously referring to you.  

Its actually funny, (although it annoys me when I am actually trying to find real-important-topic-related-info in a thread), how stupid so many of the bitcoin early adopters are. I mean, there is literally this unrefined, ignorant, idealistic, caveman like quality to so many of these early adopters. Bitcoin is entering a time where (HOPEFULLY!!!) more and more legitimate, well financed, regulated, structured 3rd wave Bitcoin companies, users and investors are going to enter the BTC universe. And eventually they will help drown out the noise.

I mean hats off to the non-authoritarian idealism that led to the birth and early propagation of bitcoin. But, man, evolution rules for a reason, and bitcoin is evolving into something potentially really special and massive. And its time, in my opinion, for this early adopter mentality to be replaced with a new type of visionary.  I am happy to ride that wave.

Please consider an adult education class at your local continuing education facility.
You have exhausted my generosity.

Even lower this time I presume. Operation Bubblepop in progress.

The kidney thing is a joke, right?  I assume so, and find it wildly amusing due to my twisted sense of humor.

At 'ki' I first showed 'kindle' for me, but kidney did appear.  Interestingly there was no option for just "How do I sell my kid".  I wonder if Google specifically coded that out.

What has friedcat done? He had 30% of the pie, and the business is now trash. Even Labcoin is close to them in TH. I feel as though he ran AM into the ground purposefully.

Self-reliance? How?

I'm sure that majority of population can't be self-reliant. There isn't just land and resources for low efficency food production. And then there is the other basics needs.

So the options are either some form of social security or worse safety...

Really?  Breaking up trusts in the 19th century slowed economic growth?

Yep, for all we know -- and this is supported by other facts in the case -- dude was just sloppy as all hell.

What does it mean exactly that it's listed there?

interpolate ?

I thought it was only 20k, and they couldn't get at the rest?

True. However, I don't say I sell at buy price + $3, but that I will not place a sell order at below that threshold. I may well place a sell order at price + 5 or price + 10, depending on the order book constellation. It's just an indicator as to whether I should sell without a loss or hold when I see that the trend is reversing.