Platitudes that are actually pretty clever or true

Verbatim · August 22, 2016, 08:06:36 PM

economists know the price of everything, but the value of nothing

Tyger · August 22, 2016, 08:11:09 PM

Verbatim is gay

Jim · August 22, 2016, 08:13:24 PM

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Verbatim · August 22, 2016, 08:28:45 PM

Quote from: Jim on August 22, 2016, 08:13:24 PM

Verbatim doesn't know anything

opposite day is next week

Ian · August 22, 2016, 08:31:08 PM

Verbatim knows what I'm thinking about right now.

Jono · August 22, 2016, 08:32:28 PM

Jim and loaf are faggots

nͫiͤcͫeͤ · August 22, 2016, 08:45:01 PM

memes

challengerX · August 22, 2016, 08:58:43 PM

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Verbatim · August 22, 2016, 09:32:21 PM

i removed the italics

now you all look stupid

Tyger · August 22, 2016, 09:38:12 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 22, 2016, 09:32:21 PM

i removed the italics

now you all look stupid

yeah uh huh

DAS B00T x2 · August 22, 2016, 10:35:21 PM

It's get better.

Sαndtrap · August 22, 2016, 11:51:57 PM

Platitude is an irritating word.

big sponge · August 22, 2016, 11:59:10 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 22, 2016, 08:28:45 PM

Quote from: Jim on August 22, 2016, 08:13:24 PM
Verbatim doesn't know anything
opposite day is next week

which is why he said you don't know anything today

Elegiac · August 23, 2016, 12:58:07 AM

eat your fruits & veges

More Than Mortal · August 23, 2016, 04:19:10 AM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 22, 2016, 08:06:36 PM

economists know the price of everything, but the value of nothing

This offends me.

Verbatim · August 23, 2016, 06:57:30 AM

Quote from: LC on August 22, 2016, 11:59:10 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 22, 2016, 08:28:45 PM
Quote from: Jim on August 22, 2016, 08:13:24 PM
Verbatim doesn't know anything
opposite day is next week
which is why he said you don't know anything today

so he just likes being wrong, or what?

was that supposed to be clever because mine was way cleverer

Dietrich Six · August 23, 2016, 09:06:52 AM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 23, 2016, 06:57:30 AM

Quote from: LC on August 22, 2016, 11:59:10 PM
Quote from: Verbatim on August 22, 2016, 08:28:45 PM
Quote from: Jim on August 22, 2016, 08:13:24 PM
Verbatim doesn't know anything
opposite day is next week
which is why he said you don't know anything today
so he just likes being wrong, or what?

was that supposed to be clever because mine was way cleverer

>third grade comebacks
>clever

Tyger · August 23, 2016, 09:15:10 AM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 23, 2016, 06:57:30 AM

Quote from: LC on August 22, 2016, 11:59:10 PM
Quote from: Verbatim on August 22, 2016, 08:28:45 PM
Quote from: Jim on August 22, 2016, 08:13:24 PM
Verbatim doesn't know anything
opposite day is next week
which is why he said you don't know anything today
so he just likes being wrong, or what?

was that supposed to be clever because mine was way cleverer

The Opposite Day thing was a kindergarten tier response

Not that LCs was clever at all either

Turkey · August 23, 2016, 12:49:56 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 22, 2016, 08:06:36 PM

economists know the price of everything, but the value of nothing

tbh this feels like a variation on the whole "not book smart, but street smart" thing, which is just a defense of ignorance.

Verbatim · August 23, 2016, 03:44:30 PM

Quote from: BayesianTurkey on August 23, 2016, 12:49:56 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 22, 2016, 08:06:36 PM
economists know the price of everything, but the value of nothing
tbh this feels like a variation on the whole "not book smart, but street smart" thing, which is just a defense of ignorance.

Only the economists are the ignorant ones.

Just because people want or "demand" something doesn't mean it has value.

An ounce of gold is worth ~$1300 according to the economist. In reality, the value of gold is 0.

More Than Mortal · August 23, 2016, 03:52:33 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 23, 2016, 03:44:30 PM

Quote from: BayesianTurkey on August 23, 2016, 12:49:56 PM
Quote from: Verbatim on August 22, 2016, 08:06:36 PM
economists know the price of everything, but the value of nothing
tbh this feels like a variation on the whole "not book smart, but street smart" thing, which is just a defense of ignorance.
Only the economists are the ignorant ones.

Just because people want or "demand" something doesn't mean it has value.

An ounce of gold is worth ~$1300 according to the economist. In reality, the value of gold is 0.

Does it escape you that this is exactly why economists argue against a currency being backed by gold?

Turkey · August 23, 2016, 04:00:44 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 23, 2016, 03:44:30 PM

Just because people want or "demand" something doesn't mean it has value.

An ounce of gold is worth ~$1300 according to the economist. In reality, the value of gold is 0.

Boy do I hate this buzzword, but that is an exceedingly reductionist way to interpret economics and value.

More Than Mortal · August 23, 2016, 04:03:44 PM

I mean, economics is an exceedingly easy field to reject without having any real understanding of it. Simply because it contacts with philosophy and politics.

The empirics of economics might run counter to strongly held convictions, but what gives the right to outright reject them? There are real, practical implications for human well-being that come from the conclusions of economic work, but what gives the right to reject them on some ideological basis?

Evidence doesn't care about your convictions.

Dietrich Six · August 23, 2016, 04:11:49 PM

I live by "work smarter, not harder".

Doctor Doom · August 23, 2016, 04:16:00 PM

"Work rewards later, procrastination rewards now."

I take this philosophy to heart by putting a whole lot of effort into not putting any effort into anything.

Verbatim · August 23, 2016, 04:24:38 PM

Quote from: Meta Cognition on August 23, 2016, 03:52:33 PM

Does it escape you that this is exactly why economists argue against a currency being backed by gold?

Gold was a weird example. I wasn't referencing any effort to back our currency with gold--I was just talking about gold itself as a commodity, and the fact that it's even classified as a commodity to begin with. It's just a shiny rock, yet we classically ascribe so much value to it. "Gold" has become symbolic; a metonym for all things that have value.

And it's all a joke, because gold is just a worthless rock.

I could've went with any other example, though. Today, video games are "worth" 60 USD. Why? Says who? By whose authority, and why should I trust their opinion? Why should I care about their opinion? Maybe I think they're only worth $50.

The reason they're worth $60 is because stupid people continue to buy them for that much. They can afford it, and they like video games enough to pay that much money to play one. Some people would pay $100 to play their favorite game, because they're fucking insane like that. They're being extorted and they don't even know it.

When you exploit concepts like S&D, a perversion of absolute value is what you get.

Verbatim · August 23, 2016, 04:28:22 PM

Quote from: BayesianTurkey on August 23, 2016, 04:00:44 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 23, 2016, 03:44:30 PM
Just because people want or "demand" something doesn't mean it has value.

An ounce of gold is worth ~$1300 according to the economist. In reality, the value of gold is 0.
Boy do I hate this buzzword, but that is an exceedingly reductionist way to interpret economics and value.

I prefer the term "cut-and-dried."

Turkey · August 23, 2016, 04:30:21 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 23, 2016, 04:24:38 PM

When you exploit concepts like S&D, a perversion of absolute value is what you get.

"Absolute value" doesn't exist in any codified, meaningful system. It's entirely subjective, though organized and standardized via economic systems. It's like arguing calculus is wrong because it's a human-designed system of expressing reality, rather than an "absolute" or "universal" system; integrals and derivatives certainly don't exist outside of our system of mathematics, and neither does the value of gold (though gold does have myriad applications in industry). That doesn't make assigning values to these things meaningless or stupid.

More Than Mortal · August 23, 2016, 04:37:44 PM

Quote from: Verbatim on August 23, 2016, 04:24:38 PM

I could've went with any other example, though. Today, video games are "worth" 60 USD. Why? Says who? By whose authority, and why should I trust their opinion? Why should I care about their opinion? Maybe I think they're only worth $50.

The price mechanism is simply the most efficient way of aggregating the extent to which people value a given thing in a certain unit.

Nobody claims it is universal, or flawless. Central planners are simply incapable of assigning "value" in an optimal way, regardless of what you think a video game is worth.

August 24, 2016, 03:22:30 AM

If your aim in life is nothing, you can't miss.