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102 sats \ 3 replies \ @siggy47 OP 15 Dec \ parent \ on: Treasure Of the Sierra Madre proof of work quote bitcoin
Sure, and its historic scarcity goes towards its value, along with the difficulty of increasing the amount. (That may change when they mine meteors) I'm wondering about the idea of the comment being Marxist. Is it because of the use of the word labor? The film depicts a very individualistic approach to acquiring gold. Collectivism isn't an issue.
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This.
Scoresby's comment is coming from the fact that there's a long held (incorrect) belief that the value of a thing is derived from the amount of effort put into building/obtaining it (labor theory of value).
Many people hold this belief instinctively, but it's incorrect and leads to distortions. Best modern example is when I asked a doctor, "If there's a shortage of primary care physicians, why don't we just pay them more and attract more of them?" Answer: "They don't get as much training so they shouldn't get paid more than specialists." The answering doctor implicitly held to the labor theory of value and did not have a concept of supply and demand.
To add onto this, "proof of work" is not what gives bitcoin its value. "Proof of work" is the security model which prevents double spending and sybil attacks, and Bitcoin's security is one of the things people like about it, but in the end, it's the fact that people desire bitcoin and its relative scarcity that gives Bitcoin its value.
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Gotcha.
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