Economy is a videogame

[ar81]

Some years ago an online player in China had some virtual goods stolen by another player. The victim of the theft went to the home of the thieve and killed him. It sounds absurd to kill for a virtual good.

But economy is no different.

Today we use credit cards, money transfers, coupons, etc.
We do not se physical money anymore.
This money is called "quasimoney" or virtual money.

If your bank account says you have $1 you have too little, but if it reads $1,000,000,000,000 you think are rich. The only difference is that a number changed in a database of the bank. A number in a database is just a magnetic signal stored on a disk, it is not real money.

So how "materialistic" is the game of money?

People kill for money, a virtual money, and they are called mercs.
1/3 of world population live in starvation because they have less that $2 a day. Money is virtual, but the effects of human action based on that game are real, just like the murder of an online player in China.

We criticize videogames, but we play the largest videogame of all. This videogame is called economy. We live and die, work and spend our lives for it. People die of starvation because of it.

Greedy people want another zero in their account, to make $10 to become $100 and so on until they can't count the zeros, but it means it is money that could cause starvation to someone.

How long will it take for people to realize that economy is like a videogame? It is like making a score in Pacman. When we die, God will not ask us if we made a high score in videogame of economy. They will ask us how much good we did to the world.

The amount of money you have is a score in a database of a bank.

It is when you fell sorry about those poor greedy people. They spent their lives making money ina virtual videogame, a worldwide videogame that ruins the lives of millions of people.

[Dan.Linehan]

Sometimes when I imagine myself reviewing my own life after I die I'm just watching myself toil away at a cubicle doing completely useless work.

It's one of the scariest things I can imagine. But it's also a great reminder to get out there and live fearlessly with passion.

[Sam988]

Originally Posted by ar81

It is when you fell sorry about those poor greedy people. They spent their lives making money ina virtual videogame, a worldwide videogame that ruins the lives of millions of people.

I'm sure those "poor greedy people" don't feel the same way about themselves..


The world and economy are far more real than you think.

Originally Posted by ar81

If your bank account says you have $1 you have too little, but if it reads $1,000,000,000,000 you think are rich. The only difference is that a number changed in a database of the bank. A number in a database is just a magnetic signal stored on a disk, it is not real money.

Yea right... well this "magnetic signal stored on a disk" can make the rich fellow buy himself everything he wants. REAL things. So much for a simple "magnetic signal stored on a disk" eh. Make sure to tell me if you got something better to acquire things than a "magnetic signal stored on a disk".

[ar81]

Originally Posted by Sam988

I'm sure those "poor greedy people" don't feel the same way about themselves..

The world and economy are far more real than you think.

Yea right... well this "magnetic signal stored on a disk" can make the rich fellow buy himself everything he wants. REAL things. So much for a simple "magnetic signal stored on a disk" eh. Make sure to tell me if you got something better to acquire things than a "magnetic signal stored on a disk".

World is real, economy is a videogame. Your money is not real anymore. Go to the middle and most primitive place of Sahara with a credit card and see if your money is real to get some water. Or come to my country with a credit card and try to pay the bus or a cabbie using it and see how real is your money.

One thing is to work to make a living and another is to dedicate your life to that signal on a hard disk. Greedy does not equal rich. I have seen greedy people going to jail because of greed.

[Remiel]

Originally Posted by ar81

World is real, economy is a videogame. Your money is not real anymore. Go to the middle and most primitive place of Sahara with a credit card and see if your money is real to get some water. Or come to my country with a credit card and try to pay the bus or a cabbie using it and see how real is your money.

One thing is to work to make a living and another is to dedicate your life to that signal on a hard disk. Greedy does not equal rich. I have seen greedy people going to jail because of greed.

I've also seen some rich people who are not greedy. Credit Cards are a convenience because people have figured out how to make money by lending money. It isn't anything new its just a different form of lending. Wherever your country might be we can get currency to spend while visiting there.

I personally don't see the video game connection. After all those bits as you called them are merely a way for a bank to keep track of real value. Its not the money itself.

[ar81]

Originally Posted by Remiel

I personally don't see the video game connection. After all those bits as you called them are merely a way for a bank to keep track of real value. Its not the money itself.

What if someone enters bank database and adds two zeros to your account? Would it be real or not real money?

[Keith]

Originally Posted by ar81

Your money is not real anymore. Go to the middle and most primitive place of Sahara with a credit card and see if your money is real to get some water. Or come to my country with a credit card and try to pay the bus or a cabbie using it and see how real is your money.

All money is only as 'real' as people are willing to value it. Try taking US dollars and see what they're worth on some primitive tribal island. Even 'real' currency like gold or salt are only worth something if the other person agrees they're valuable.

[ar81]

Originally Posted by Keith

All money is only as 'real' as people are willing to value it. Try taking US dollars and see what they're worth on some primitive tribal island. Even 'real' currency like gold or salt are only worth something if the other person agrees they're valuable.

The difference between Pacman points and money is that one has such agreement and the other do not. But both are virtual today.

To me it is curious to see people who dedicate an important time of their lives to think about money as if it was the purpose of life...
In the end when we die, we won't take that virtual hard disk signal with us.

[Remiel]

Originally Posted by ar81

What if someone enters bank database and adds two zeros to your account? Would it be real or not real money?

The problem with just creating money is then you get what happens in 3rd world countries. Money becomes worthless. If we just printed money then money wouldn't be worth the paper it was printed on. I am quite sure that if a bank made a mistake they either 1. Fix it (most likely to happen) or 2. end up paying for it out of their own pockets.


Also electronic != video game. Or would you consider the internet to be a video game?


Again as I see it those 1s and 0s merely represent information, not actual intrinsic worth. That worth comes from elsewhere.

[Remiel]

Originally Posted by ar81

The difference between Pacman points and money is that one has such agreement and the other do not. But both are virtual today.

To me it is curious to see people who dedicate an important time of their lives to think about money as if it was the purpose of life...
In the end when we die, we won't take that virtual hard disk signal with us.

To me money is a tool just like any other resource. A tractor only has value to me if I make use of it somehow. Same thing goes for anything else.

[ar81]

Originally Posted by Remiel

The problem with just creating money is then you get what happens in 3rd world countries. Money becomes worthless. .

Yes, but you make more money, others lose.

Originally Posted by Remiel

Also electronic = video game. Or would you consider the internet to be a video game?

Game has rules, economy has rules, therefore it is a game.
Economy is now played via internet, so it is some kind of videogame where points can be traded for physical and non virtual goods.
And people is enslaved to that game...

[ThoughtAddict]

Is money "real"?

Nope, as others have pointed out, it is merely representative. There is a quiet pact with extremely flexible rules that a certain style of paper is worth a certain amount and other styles are worthless. Is it abstract? Yes, very. Is it a game? No.

People follow these conventions because they are useful. Money is a useful thing. It makes it easy to convert goods or services into other goods or services. If we had a barter economy, I would have to trade my services in drafting a document for some good or service, probably one undesirable to me. I would have to continue trading until I could obtain those things I need or desire. The overhead of doing these trades would be excessive.

The evolution of barter to money makes sense. The evolution of hard currency for paper currency makes sense. The evolution to digital currency also makes sense. It eliminates barriers, allows for greater convenience, and greater liquidity. It does this at a risk, of course, just as there was a risk of counterfeiting.

To say that "the economy is a videogame" ignores the real world implications. The calculations people make are not arbitrary, though, as I said, the rules are flexible. The numbers assigned mean something... they correspond in varying degrees to the real world. That's why one electronic card yields no results while the other makes it possible to get a Mercedes SLR McLaren.

[ar81]

Originally Posted by ThoughtAddict

To say that "the economy is a videogame" ignores the real world implications. The calculations people make are not arbitrary, though, as I said, the rules are flexible. The numbers assigned mean something... they correspond in varying degrees to the real world. That's why one electronic card yields no results while the other makes it possible to get a Mercedes SLR McLaren.

Implications are determined by human actions of gamers who play game of economy. Rules are not that flexible, if people buy imported stuff, they create trade deficit that ultimately causes an effect. If people change behavior, overall economy results changes, but rules do not change. This is why US crisis can't just be solved by printing money to compensate deficits.

[Brutha]

The difference between Pacman points and money is that one has such agreement and the other do not. But both are virtual today.

To me it is curious to see people who dedicate an important time of their lives to think about money as if it was the purpose of life...

Justice or morals are also manmade constructs that don't exist without people who appreciate those concepts.

If you however come and say that some stone is more important than justice because that stone has some physical substance to it while justice doesn't, I think you are in dangerous territoy.

[ThoughtAddict]

Originally Posted by ar81

Implications are determined by human actions of gamers who play game of economy. Rules are not that flexible, if people buy imported stuff, they create trade deficit that ultimately causes an effect. If people change behavior, overall economy results changes, but rules do not change. This is why US crisis can't just be solved by printing money to compensate deficits.

Rules do change, particularly in scoring. How much is a dollar worth? How much is silver worth? How much is American Express stock worth? Each of these has had large global variations.

If you're saying that money is "a game" in that it only has the significance people give it, then we agree. You seem to be more concerned with how the current economic system can cause inequality and suffering. Do you have a proposed solution or issue with certain aspects of the modern economy, or are you just saying that the accumulation of wealth can cause problems?