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111 sats \ 3 replies \ @ek 18 Oct 2023 \ parent \ on: _Broken Money_ book club, part 2 bitcoin
And I'm glad you're doing this so I want to contribute in any way :) Using social media without the miserable parts is actually great, lol
Sure, good primer to put it into my own words to see how well I understood the mentioned concepts :)
It was about trades within a trusted community vs trading with foreign groups.
When trading within trusted communities, you use a form of "social credit": You give something to someone in need but implicitly expect that this favor is returned in the future.
When trading with foreign groups, you need to settle the transaction on the spot since you might never see them again or just don't trust that they would return any kinds of favors in the future. So that's where you actually exchange goods and the problem of "double coincidence of wants" appears. And where the need for something which is universally valued arises.
So with "spot" the current location and time is meant. The transaction is settled right here and right now.
Did this answer your question or did I just summarize exactly all that you already knew? lol
No, that's a perfect summary, and I'm glad you drew attention to it. Who you can and can't trust, for what, and under what circumstances and over what timescale, seems to be at the heart of everything.
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Yes, I think so, too. It's actually crazy to think about how much we trust each other to not kill each other - by accident or on purpose. Just driving on a highway makes me highly aware of that.
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It’s a trivial point but I feel smarter for having read it. I’m always interested in the origin of words - how we came to say certain things in particular ways
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