The Bitcoin decimal issue

[weisoq]

Once upon a time, there was a guy that didn't understand the difference between physical goods with mass, and abstract money.  He wrote a story comparing bread to bitcoin.  Sadly, everyone laughed at him, because each tiny little bit of bread can only be consumed once, so the whole loaf has only a fixed amount of sustaining power, no matter how divided, while money circulates to be used over and over again without ever being consumed.

Not everyone's laughing at him, many are laughing at the tangential and defensive responses.

[1715167612]

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[1715167612]

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[MagicBit15]

OK but did we just create a 'once a upon a time' meme with currency in this thread. I feel like OP fail has led to greatness... Going to try to contribute..

[MagicBit15]

[bigdude]

[bigdude]

[kjj]

Once upon a time, there was a guy that didn't understand the difference between physical goods with mass, and abstract money.  He wrote a story comparing bread to bitcoin.  Sadly, everyone laughed at him, because each tiny little bit of bread can only be consumed once, so the whole loaf has only a fixed amount of sustaining power, no matter how divided, while money circulates to be used over and over again without ever being consumed.

Not everyone's laughing at him, many are laughing at the tangential and defensive responses.

If someone popped up asking if the software could safely hold up his aquarium without bending or cracking, there isn't much that can be said by way of direct reply.

Such was his analogy.  He is deeply confused.  It is neither defensive nor tangential to point that out.

[weisoq]

If someone popped up asking if the software could safely hold up his aquarium without bending or cracking, there isn't much that can be said by way of direct reply.

Such was his analogy.  He is deeply confused.  It is neither defensive nor tangential to point that out.
[/quote]
Tangential in that it doesn't address his point, rather ones own. Defensive in responding with mutual and valueless memes to distract from the possibilty of any merit. We might not all agree, but we do all understand the point he was making. If you hope to build cryptos into anything more than a zero-sum techie plaything I suggest it's time to stop playing and skirting around the questions everyone outside this small circle will have. If you don't, then as you were.

[freedomno1]

Top 5 Epic fail storys of the forums
I know someday such a topic will exist

[MagicBit15]

*Insert Facepalm Spam Memes*

Allright lets relax with the spam kid. Send you right back to the newbie board/Mod reporting Lmao!!

[freedomno1]

*Insert Facepalm Spam Memes*

Allright lets relax with the spam kid. Send you right back to the newbie board/Mod reporting Lmao!!

Lol I don't think such a function exists yet

[MagicBit15]

*Insert Facepalm Spam Memes*

Allright lets relax with the spam kid. Send you right back to the newbie board/Mod reporting Lmao!!

Lol I don't think such a function exists yet

It should though right lmao

[freedomno1]

*Insert Facepalm Spam Memes*

Allright lets relax with the spam kid. Send you right back to the newbie board/Mod reporting Lmao!!

Lol I don't think such a function exists yet

It should though right lmao

I can see it now
Its the NOOB HAMMER a wonderfully kinder or eviler version of the ban hammer
Its ability
Send people Back to the Fjords with Noobs!

[Yuusha]

but we do all understand the point he was making.

Actually, no. His post is pure nonsense. And I say that not being a hardcore Bitcoin-believer. Anyone not completely mentally challenged would understand this is not how it works.

[weisoq]

but we do all understand the point he was making.

Actually, no. His post is pure nonsense. And I say that not being a hardcore Bitcoin-believer. Anyone not completely mentally challenged would understand this is not how it works.

ah yes of course, what logic and rationale. But you are correct in that one of us is either mentally challenged, or bullshitting.

[kjj]

If someone popped up asking if the software could safely hold up his aquarium without bending or cracking, there isn't much that can be said by way of direct reply.

Such was his analogy.  He is deeply confused.  It is neither defensive nor tangential to point that out.

Tangential in that it doesn't address his point, rather ones own. Defensive in responding with mutual and valueless memes to distract from the possibilty of any merit. We might not all agree, but we do all understand the point he was making. If you hope to build cryptos into anything more than a zero-sum techie plaything I suggest it's time to stop playing and skirting around the questions everyone outside this small circle will have. If you don't, then as you were.

There was no point to address.  Bitcoin is not bread.  The sustaining power of a loaf of bread is fixed, and dividing it up doesn't change the sum.  One loaf cannot feed a herd of angry villagers.  The money power of bitcoin is not fixed.  1 BTC can serve the exchange uses of the entire world.

Value is not a thing that exists outside of our minds.  We aren't embedding some of it into our money.  We are measuring it, like we measure temperature or distance, just not with a coherent or standardized scale*.  No one is worried that there won't be enough temperature to go around, or enough kilometers.  Worrying that there won't be enough money for everyone demonstrates a serious confusion.

Once again, it is not defensive to point out that someone's thinking will not lead to useful questions, much less useful answers.

*  Although bitcoin is the world's best attempt at a coherent measure for value, by far.  The far end of the scale is subject to the whims of politicians or bankers.  If only that were the only problem...

[sidhujag]

This goes back to the whole deflation/inflation issue and what is good/bad should there an equilibrium between the two in order for our society to operate in harmony? The OP made a valid point but maybe came from a different point of view which wasn't valid but had the right idea.

It's more complicated than to say hey 1 BTC can run the world, you have to provide info that doesn't exist yet in order to prove that, and its relatively easy to disprove that idea.

I created a thread here talking about this issue:https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=236684.0;

[freedomno1]

Fine replies to this story with same line of reasoning bear with me sigh

The crowds followed Satoshi on foot from the towns. When Satoshi landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them and healed their finances. As evening approached, the bitcoiners came to him and said, "This is a remote place, and it's already getting late. Send the crowds away, so they can go to the mines and earn themselves some food."
Satoshi replied, "They do not need to go away. You give them something to eat."
"We have here only one loaf of bread and fifty bitcoins," they answered.
"Bring them here to me," he said.
Satoshi directed the people to sit down on the grass. Taking the one loaf of bread and the fifty bitcoins and looking up to the blockchain, he gave thanks and broke the chain. Then he gave them to the bitcoiners, and the bitcoiners gave them to the people. They all ate and were satisfied, and the disciples picked up twelve basketfuls of broken pieces that were left over. The number of those who ate was about five thousand men, besides women and children.

OP's story made me go there

[bitcoinbear]

Once upon a time, there was a guy that didn't understand the difference between physical goods with mass, and abstract money.  He wrote a story comparing bread to bitcoin.  Sadly, everyone laughed at him, because each tiny little bit of bread can only be consumed once, so the whole loaf has only a fixed amount of sustaining power, no matter how divided, while money circulates to be used over and over again without ever being consumed.

+1

Is the OP saying the problem lies in the fact that one man has 10 bread while the rest of the village lives on 1 bread, so the inequality is killing them? Or is he saying that there are 10 breads, which clearly is not enough to feed the 1000's of people, so no matter how they cut it they are going to starve?

Are we complaining about how the early adopters have too many coins, or that the money supply of bitocins is only like a billion dollars, which is clearly too small for a global economy?

The obvious solution to the OP's story is to printbake more bread.

We don't have to print more bitcoins because they can just expand to fill the needs of the economy. That might mean the USD value of a single Bitcoin will go up a few orders of magnitude, but that is okay because we can divide bitcoins down eight decimal places. See, the divisibility is the solution after all, you just have to look at it the right direction.

[freedomno1]

Once upon a time, there was a guy that didn't understand the difference between physical goods with mass, and abstract money.  He wrote a story comparing bread to bitcoin.  Sadly, everyone laughed at him, because each tiny little bit of bread can only be consumed once, so the whole loaf has only a fixed amount of sustaining power, no matter how divided, while money circulates to be used over and over again without ever being consumed.

+1

Is the OP saying the problem lies in the fact that one man has 10 bread while the rest of the village lives on 1 bread, so the inequality is killing them? Or is he saying that there are 10 breads, which clearly is not enough to feed the 1000's of people, so no matter how they cut it they are going to starve?

Are we complaining about how the early adopters have too many coins, or that the money supply of bitocins is only like a billion dollars, which is clearly too small for a global economy?

The obvious solution to the OP's story is to printbake more bread.

We don't have to print more bitcoins because they can just expand to fill the needs of the economy. That might mean the USD value of a single Bitcoin will go up a few orders of magnitude, but that is okay because we can divide bitcoins down eight decimal places. See, the divisibility is the solution after all, you just have to look at it the right direction.

Nope the obvious solution to this story was to split the bitcoins using the blockchain to buy more bread XD
Refer to my troll post XD

[sidhujag]

Once upon a time, there was a guy that didn't understand the difference between physical goods with mass, and abstract money.  He wrote a story comparing bread to bitcoin.  Sadly, everyone laughed at him, because each tiny little bit of bread can only be consumed once, so the whole loaf has only a fixed amount of sustaining power, no matter how divided, while money circulates to be used over and over again without ever being consumed.

+1

Is the OP saying the problem lies in the fact that one man has 10 bread while the rest of the village lives on 1 bread, so the inequality is killing them? Or is he saying that there are 10 breads, which clearly is not enough to feed the 1000's of people, so no matter how they cut it they are going to starve?

Are we complaining about how the early adopters have too many coins, or that the money supply of bitocins is only like a billion dollars, which is clearly too small for a global economy?

The obvious solution to the OP's story is to printbake more bread.

We don't have to print more bitcoins because they can just expand to fill the needs of the economy. That might mean the USD value of a single Bitcoin will go up a few orders of magnitude, but that is okay because we can divide bitcoins down eight decimal places. See, the divisibility is the solution after all, you just have to look at it the right direction.

You divide bitcoins down to 8 decimal points and you will see people starving, holding off for a cheaper loaf of bread