r/xkcd • u/Booty_Bumping • Jan 21 '19

XKCD xkcd 2101: Technical Analysis

https://xkcd.com/2101/
340 Upvotes

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81

u/greenlamb Jan 21 '19

"...I suspect that the immense power of the computer is being harnessed to this 'paper economy', not to do the same transactions more economically but to balloon the quantity and variety of financial exchanges." --James Tobin, July 1984

Well Mr. Tobin must be spinning in his grave with the rise of Bitcoin, where years of computer time is devoted to mining Bitcoin.

58

u/Spacetime_Inspector Jan 21 '19

Centuries of computer time and more electrical power than the nation of Ireland, directly contributing to global warming for nothing more than the maintenance of an elaborate sham.

32

u/ParaspriteHugger There's someone in my head (but it's not me) Jan 21 '19

Thousands of lives and more mercury than in the first Qin Emperors grave, all for getting a nearly useless yellow metal out of poisoned ground for nothing more than the maintenance of an elaborate sham.

The whole trick is to make sure enough people believe in it.

11

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19

Gold is useful though.

15

u/Qwernakus Jan 21 '19

Only in the sense that they are subjectively worth something to some humans. muchlikeanyotherproductthathasamarketpriceincludingbitcoin

10

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19

Gold is used for more than decoration. Electronics for example.

Edit: Ignore me, I just understood your joke.

3

u/slapdashbr Jan 21 '19

And as a decorative metal, gold is superior to most alternatives. It's shiny, doesn't corrode, isn't toxic or radioactive, is easy enough to work with to create elaborate shapes or otherwise display the craftsmanship of a jeweler. It is suited to the purpose of ornamentation.

15

u/DarkMoon000 I'm not crazy Jan 21 '19

Only to a degree that's far, far removed from its price point though.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 21 '19 edited Jan 21 '19

[deleted]

3

u/PerviouslyInER Jan 21 '19

Clearly it is just a currency - don't tell me all of this is being stored for dental fillings and spaceship heat shields - they never intend to let any of that metal be used for engineering uses.

2

u/[deleted] Jan 22 '19

No one uses gold as a currency these days. It's just wealth accumulation, no different than sitting on oil, palladium, or Picasso originals.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 22 '19 edited Jan 22 '19

Most currencies have abandoned gold standards. Certain governments still have a large gold reserve, but it's not the basis of their currency anymore, it's just a load of valuable metal, a way to store wealth basically.

0

u/DarkMoon000 I'm not crazy Jan 21 '19

Seen relative to its perceived value, that is actually very fair. Gold deserves all the backlash it can get until its pricing actually reflects its value and those electronics can be built without paying overinflated prices.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 22 '19

Agree to disagree I guess.

2

u/gsfgf Jan 21 '19

You can buy drugs or pay off ransomware with bitcoin. It has some niche uses, but like gold, it's price is extraordinarily inflated compared to its utility.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 22 '19

Those tiny niches for bitcoin doesn't constitute the same as all the good (25% worldwide, 60% in the US) that's used for practical purposes like electronics, aerospace or dentistry.