Yet another very interesting piece Srini. When gold backing was no longer required for US dollar (and world currencies), each government is behind its own currency. Infact, this is the best way to dinstinguish counterfeit versus genuine currency. I have always wondered who is backing the bitcoin? After all, it is the guarantee of a government that gives the value to a piece of paper. You addressed it by saying that the supply is capped at ~ $21M, comparing it to gold. But you know, gold like diamond (which is nothing but carbon) has intrinsic value by its appeal for ornaments and jewellery. What intrinsic appeal does bitcoin have?
Thanks Ravi. Gold doesn’t have intrinsic value now except for a minority of people who use it in jewelry etc. The value of gold is driven today by institutional purchases more than retail. It’s become a belief system. We have all agreed that gold is valuable and it helps that it’s in short supply and is the only chemical element with uninteresting properties (does not tarnish, react easily with skin, etc). Bitcoin can become big if a similar belief system builds up. It’s a lot easier to transport than gold, less expensive to store and possibly equally expensive as gold to protect over time. Which is why institutions are intrigued by it and adoption is beginning to pick up. Think of it another way - if Bitcoin reaches 1billion users, a lot of applications and use cases will quickly emerge to cater to this user base. It’s an intriguing phenomenon for sure.
We have traversed a very very long way, from the world of a couple of centuries back, when, persons with worthwhile articles or assets, and requiring some they want to possess for ever, resorted to BARTER TRADE. Through the ages, it has travelled a long distance, and only about 50/60 years back, the GOLD STANDARD came into existence, and the world turned topsy- turvy , with even TOM, DICK AND HARRY, started resorted to amassing GOLD AND HOARDING IT, thinking that it was at last the only solution to hold something worth possessing, to be considered as a rich or prosperous person. I remember that in between 1945-55, every single house-hold purchased GOLD with the available resource of cash available, at a price of Rs 50 per gramme, with the present price of GOLD IN 5 digits. The transformational change, replacing it with BITCOINS, may have to run it’s course for a couple of more years or decades, to be replaced, by a much more innovative INSTRUMENT FOR EVALUATION OF THE WORTH OF THE PERSON, holding it close to his chest, to be considered as one among the TOP 10 RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD. This evolutionary process of systematic replacement , of one by another, thought to be much more stable and durable, is visible in every facet of human activity, either of riches, human perceptions, values etc , is an irreversible process of the EVOLUTION, at the bottom of such HUMAN FRAILTY IN EVALUATING THE WORTH OR OTHERWISE of anything, worth keeping or preserving. ( Example: The CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY itself) . As rightly stated by you, already, the BITCOINS, are gradually being replaced by CRYPTOCURRENCY, and though, a student of ECONOMICS, i am really flabbergasted to understand either the reasons, or the logic behind it, as also the implications of such novel schemes, brought, more by human ingenuity , than anything else. LOKO BINNA RUCHIHI is much more applicable here in evaluating things, than in any other field of human endeavour. I thank you for educating me into the MYSTERIES OF BITCOINS, which, was far beyond my sense of comprehension, till date.
Thank you for reading. Cryptocurrency is a fascinating phenomenon and a new chapter in the story of money. The world is becoming digital ie more and more things are bought without actual paper money and Bitcoin is a concoction that caters to this trend.
Hello! I loved your Twitter account when I was active on that hellsite. I had always thought your tweets were informative, fun, wise, measured, well-written and/or rose above the usual biases. I guess I'm commenting here because I'm not sure how else to get in touch with you; and I like my mental health too much to log on to Twitter (even for a minute) and check if you're active there.
My question is not related to the content here (though I am a subscriber, and read your blogs when I have time) - it is related to a tweet that you had posted many months back which surprised me pleasantly and stuck with me. You had tweeted along the lines of believing that women (not all, of course) don't need to get married and have children at all, and that it is really completely fine to stay unmarried, explore the world, study further, do what makes you happy.
So, I guess my question to you is - do you truly believe this school of thought and could you expand on what you think about this subject? As a 32 year old unmarried woman, I'm going through a bit of a decision paralysis crisis about marriage and having kids.
Reasons: I just KNOW that the world is going to be an unstable place in a few years, and I hesitate to bring children into the mix. Plus I simply do not have the kind of overwhelming mental, physical, emotional and financial commitment that is required to bring up healthy, happy children. Recently I very nearly got married - but even though I liked the guy - I could not bring myself to actually agree to live with him for every single day for the rest of my life. Its too much, and I cannot do it. I have the kind of personality that easily gets shadowed/affected by people around me, and I fear that a bad or just 'meh' marriage (or even a good one!) would be too much of a toll on my sense of contentment. I'd prefer not going through a messy divorce or anything like that.
For all of these reasons, I'm starting to think that being single and surrounded by 1 or 2 close friends is probably the best way to live life for me (though sometimes the thought of this life also makes me sad). I have to make the decision soon - and I'm reaching out to people, both online and offline, whom I hope are kind enough to give counsel/help. Hoping you can share your thoughts generously - Thank you :)
Yet another very interesting piece Srini. When gold backing was no longer required for US dollar (and world currencies), each government is behind its own currency. Infact, this is the best way to dinstinguish counterfeit versus genuine currency. I have always wondered who is backing the bitcoin? After all, it is the guarantee of a government that gives the value to a piece of paper. You addressed it by saying that the supply is capped at ~ $21M, comparing it to gold. But you know, gold like diamond (which is nothing but carbon) has intrinsic value by its appeal for ornaments and jewellery. What intrinsic appeal does bitcoin have?
Thanks Ravi. Gold doesn’t have intrinsic value now except for a minority of people who use it in jewelry etc. The value of gold is driven today by institutional purchases more than retail. It’s become a belief system. We have all agreed that gold is valuable and it helps that it’s in short supply and is the only chemical element with uninteresting properties (does not tarnish, react easily with skin, etc). Bitcoin can become big if a similar belief system builds up. It’s a lot easier to transport than gold, less expensive to store and possibly equally expensive as gold to protect over time. Which is why institutions are intrigued by it and adoption is beginning to pick up. Think of it another way - if Bitcoin reaches 1billion users, a lot of applications and use cases will quickly emerge to cater to this user base. It’s an intriguing phenomenon for sure.
We have traversed a very very long way, from the world of a couple of centuries back, when, persons with worthwhile articles or assets, and requiring some they want to possess for ever, resorted to BARTER TRADE. Through the ages, it has travelled a long distance, and only about 50/60 years back, the GOLD STANDARD came into existence, and the world turned topsy- turvy , with even TOM, DICK AND HARRY, started resorted to amassing GOLD AND HOARDING IT, thinking that it was at last the only solution to hold something worth possessing, to be considered as a rich or prosperous person. I remember that in between 1945-55, every single house-hold purchased GOLD with the available resource of cash available, at a price of Rs 50 per gramme, with the present price of GOLD IN 5 digits. The transformational change, replacing it with BITCOINS, may have to run it’s course for a couple of more years or decades, to be replaced, by a much more innovative INSTRUMENT FOR EVALUATION OF THE WORTH OF THE PERSON, holding it close to his chest, to be considered as one among the TOP 10 RICHEST PERSON IN THE WORLD. This evolutionary process of systematic replacement , of one by another, thought to be much more stable and durable, is visible in every facet of human activity, either of riches, human perceptions, values etc , is an irreversible process of the EVOLUTION, at the bottom of such HUMAN FRAILTY IN EVALUATING THE WORTH OR OTHERWISE of anything, worth keeping or preserving. ( Example: The CONCEPT OF DEMOCRACY itself) . As rightly stated by you, already, the BITCOINS, are gradually being replaced by CRYPTOCURRENCY, and though, a student of ECONOMICS, i am really flabbergasted to understand either the reasons, or the logic behind it, as also the implications of such novel schemes, brought, more by human ingenuity , than anything else. LOKO BINNA RUCHIHI is much more applicable here in evaluating things, than in any other field of human endeavour. I thank you for educating me into the MYSTERIES OF BITCOINS, which, was far beyond my sense of comprehension, till date.
Thank you for reading. Cryptocurrency is a fascinating phenomenon and a new chapter in the story of money. The world is becoming digital ie more and more things are bought without actual paper money and Bitcoin is a concoction that caters to this trend.
Hello! I loved your Twitter account when I was active on that hellsite. I had always thought your tweets were informative, fun, wise, measured, well-written and/or rose above the usual biases. I guess I'm commenting here because I'm not sure how else to get in touch with you; and I like my mental health too much to log on to Twitter (even for a minute) and check if you're active there.
My question is not related to the content here (though I am a subscriber, and read your blogs when I have time) - it is related to a tweet that you had posted many months back which surprised me pleasantly and stuck with me. You had tweeted along the lines of believing that women (not all, of course) don't need to get married and have children at all, and that it is really completely fine to stay unmarried, explore the world, study further, do what makes you happy.
So, I guess my question to you is - do you truly believe this school of thought and could you expand on what you think about this subject? As a 32 year old unmarried woman, I'm going through a bit of a decision paralysis crisis about marriage and having kids.
Reasons: I just KNOW that the world is going to be an unstable place in a few years, and I hesitate to bring children into the mix. Plus I simply do not have the kind of overwhelming mental, physical, emotional and financial commitment that is required to bring up healthy, happy children. Recently I very nearly got married - but even though I liked the guy - I could not bring myself to actually agree to live with him for every single day for the rest of my life. Its too much, and I cannot do it. I have the kind of personality that easily gets shadowed/affected by people around me, and I fear that a bad or just 'meh' marriage (or even a good one!) would be too much of a toll on my sense of contentment. I'd prefer not going through a messy divorce or anything like that.
For all of these reasons, I'm starting to think that being single and surrounded by 1 or 2 close friends is probably the best way to live life for me (though sometimes the thought of this life also makes me sad). I have to make the decision soon - and I'm reaching out to people, both online and offline, whom I hope are kind enough to give counsel/help. Hoping you can share your thoughts generously - Thank you :)