@GreatHornedOwl I have never sat around and thought I would like to paddle a river. Lol. Especially a humid one. You know you need to write your autobio, don't ya?
@achetocuddle - Well, I have a nice canoe, and I've paddled many rivers, One of my favorites, is about 40 miles of the Suwanee River after it leaves Okefenokee Swamp, which is pure wilderness, and about as humid as it gets.
South east Asia has only two real seasons. Ih has 5 months when it's hot and wet, five months when it's hot and dry, and two transition months on each side. The Mekong river would be quite pleasant during the dry season.
Write an autobiography? Yah, sure. Just what I need. Another big project to do in my spare time.
@GreatHornedOwl
~ Sunset Snuggles
@achetocuddle: I admit, I mostly started this thread for you. I'm glad you like it!
As I understand it, what causes the most trouble are the crypto mining farms: the huge buildings full of high-powered computers all trying to solve increasingly difficult computer problems in order to spit out new cryptocurrency tokens. Always trying to get more, and more, and more!
@Zundar: Good pun. I'm glad I wasn't drinking anything when I read it.
@GoodRightHook: Nothing has intrinsic value.
Even if you can eat it, if it keeps you warm or protects you from harm, that doesn't mean it has value in and of itself alone. Take "you" out of the equation, and where does its value go?
Everything is only valuable insofar as it's valuable to someone or something. All value is subjective.
So computers? Cryptocurrency? Those are "really valuable" when people decide they are. What it comes down to is this: how stable is the system? How likely is it that everyone you want to deal with will value your crypto tokens equally; equally enough to make exchange worthwhile for both you and them; at least more or less the same from day to day; or even that they'll value the tokens at all?
If the value of the currency can't be agreed upon, it can't be exchanged and it's not currency—at least not where its value isn't agreed upon.
@SunsetSnuggles I like it a lot more that Stephen Foster's tribute to the Suwanee River. There's an interesting bit of trivia concerning "Old Folks at Home." When first written, it took place on the Pee Dee River in South Carolina. Ode of Stephen Foster's suggested that Pee Dee River just didn't sound right. He suggested switching to the Suwanee River, an Foster agreed. Now Foster never actually saw the Suwanee River, but that was ok, he had never seen the Pee Dee either. He found it on a map.
@DaringSprinter I really do wonder where you got your knowledge (or lack thereof) of economics. Your arguments regarding crypto currency are full of a few accurate bits of information, surrounded by a lot of pure nonsense. When you say
Nothing has intrinsic value. Even if you can eat it, if it keeps you warm or protects you from harm, that doesn't mean it has value in and of itself alone. Take "you" out of the equation, and where does its value go?
That is the most meaningless statement you have made yet. I doubt that you even believe that yourself. Nothing has intrinsic value? Really? Rubbish. Does oxygen have intrinsic value? When you take "you" out of the equation, and by "you," I can only assume that you either mean all of humanity, or all life, the concept of intrinsic value, or any other kind kind of value looses all meaning. Any attempt to say that something either does or does not have some meaningless attribute is absolutely pure nonsense.
@GreatHornedOwl: I admit I'm puzzled. Do you mean to say that oxygen alone—nothing else considered, only the oxygen all by itself, just pure O floating in a void—has value somehow?
Certainly oxygen has value to me. I need it to live. It has value to plants—they need it for the same. But alone? In and of itself, alone? Intrinsically? I confess I don't see it. Now, you put me alone in a void, nothing and no one else around, and (in the brief moment I exist before suffocating) I still have value: to myself!
But that value still isn't objective. It isn't part and parcel of what I am (that is, intrinsic)—it's the result of something I'm doing: valuing myself.
How could value possibly be intrinsic?
Interesting convo and I'm glad there won't be a quiz after:)
@DaringSprinter A belated thanks for this thread. I had the privilege and pleasure of some PMs earlier. Now I know what a crypto mining farm is. A relative of a friend of mine does PR for the mining farms, but like me, my friend did not know what the buildings were called. I suppose one building may actually be just part of a farm? Anyway, crypto sounds more of a slippery slope than even day trading. I know people have made money in both. But a lot of stuff has to gel for that to happen I think. And there is the matter of getting out at the right time.
@Zundar You're sharp. I didn't even know you made a pun til DaringSprinter mentioned it and I looked up necromancer
@GreatHornedOwl I would rather you get more rest even if I have to do without your autobio And of course (pretend I'm smacking my head like I could have had a V-8) Vietnam would not have the same weather or humidity all year. Very few places on Earth come even close to laying that claim.
@achetocuddle: You're very welcome! I think the buildings are just buildings that house the farms—but how many servers it takes to make a farm I couldn't say.
Crypto sounds pretty iffy to me, too. Some of the tech that's used to create and support it is pretty cool! But crypto itself... nah, too risky for me.
@DaringSprinter Of course not. Floating in a void. nothing has intrinsic value. Nothing has any kind of value. The concept of value doesn't exist. No other concepts exist either. The whole thing is nothing but pure nonsense.
You may wish to waste your time arguing about meaningless ideas, but I prefer to restrict my thinking to the real world that actually exists."
So far, I've been wondering if you actually know anything about economics. or if you've just picked up some buzz words and phrases to throw around. Now, I'm also wondering if you know anything about plants. "Oxygen has value to plants." Didn't you ever take high school biology? Oxygen is garbage to plants. Plants take in carbon dioxide, break it down, keep the carbon, and throw away the oxygen. Oxygen has zero value to plants.
To some primitive life forms, oxygen actually has negative value. Oxygen is actually toxic to anaerobic bacteria, but when economists talk about intrinsic value, they mean value to people. You are perfectly free to redefine intrinsic value any way that you want to define it, but when youd definition differs from that used by virtually all professional economists, don't expect anybody to understand what you're talking about.
@GreatHornedOwl: Whaddya mean, "oxygen is garbage to plants"? Plants need oxygen to survive, and plant cells are constantly using oxygen. All plant cells need oxygen to live, because without oxygen they can't perform aerobic respiration. (Each of those sentences is a separate link: you can click them to learn more.)
Anyway, that aside—if something is intrinsic to a thing, surely it exists when that thing exists? Even if that thing is all that exists? Like... roundness. A sphere in a vacuum still has roundness, yeah?
I'm not an economist. I'm just using layman's terms for things. (Or at least I thought I was....)
We went from, “does crypto has any value?” To, “what is the meaning of intrinsic?” 🤭
@cuddles_ndream: Ah, change! I anticipated this thread would evolve when I started it, and started it hoping it would evolve.
Thus the deliberately vague title. Remember?
@cuddles_ndream Yes we did. Lol. @DaringSprinter The tech that creates and supports crypto is super impressive.
I'm not looking to tell DaringSprinter something he has not already thought of, but this thread could go on til our demise/the end of time/etc., since it can't ever be off-topic. It's fun to think about. I'm not that competitive (my sis doesn't believe that, Lol, but she also does not think I have many tender emotions either), but what if this was the longest running thread ever? I would not deliberately post idle chit-chat to make it continue; it's not my style. But if keeps going somehow a year or more it would be sorta fascinating to me.
@DaringSprinter that was an awesome idea!
@achetocuddle haha : P
@TheMidnightOwl on my way to work today, I noticed that my ebike arrived at a significant less battery charge than usual … on my way home I noticed the battery quickly depleting … I turned off the bike & turned it back on each battery individually & noticed that the back battery was at zero … I thought this was strange because I left the house with both battery fully charged … I got home a little while ago, connected both & the back battery immediately showed fully charged , but when I turned on the bike using the back battery it shows zero again? Do you know why this might be? I reached out to the company by email just now but I’m worried that the back battery lost its intrinsic value 🥺
@DaringSprinter Can we sometime discuss you? Does your day tend to have a routine you stick to? Do you cook? If so, what? What is like to live in Fargo? Did you see the movie Fargo? I'm interested in knowing more about you. And have you been reading deep nonfiction since you were 6 years old?
@achetocuddle: Your interest is flattering!
Currently my routine is "wake up, rest, eat food, rest, do some gentle stretching (mobilizations), rest, eat again, rest...." Sometimes braces and bandages are involved—sometimes I can go without. Tonight I've got the left wrist brace on. Not to be crude, but: sh*t hurts.
I don't cook much or well. I can just about do scrambled eggs. Fortunately, I've got Hogboblin to cook for me! He does a mean stir fry, and his spaghetti is well worth tasting, too.
Living in Fargo is... well, it's humid, for one thing. The cold soaks right into your bones in winter, and in summer you're basically breathing your own sweat. There's nothing much to do, unless you like getting drunk and/or high. There is a public library, which seems nice though I haven't been able to get inside (ah, the limitations granted by photosensitivity). The people mostly mind their own business. Hogboblin and I hardly ever get told to "die, fing faggots, f off and die, die, die, you faggots, faggots, f***ing faggots." And the rents are pretty reasonable given the average wage.
I've never seen the movie Fargo. I wonder how it compares? Maybe I should give it a watch.
Deep nonfiction is far from my reading material of choice! And although I have read a lot of it, I certainly didn't start with it—when I first started reading (around age 4), I was more into Dr. Seuss.
Removed the f-bombs. [-Sid]
@DaringSprinter Thank you for sharing; I've been wondering some of that, too, along with @achetocuddle.
@SunsetSnuggles: I'm doubly flattered.
high fives @achetocuddle
@SunsetSnuggles Yes, DaringSprinter is interesting. He is intelligent, well-read and/or educated and sure of himself. He presents his views in a solid, detailed, articulate way. He can chat about MANY subjects. He lives in a part of the country that is far away from most people that many people don't visit.
I'm curious if anyone here likes yoga. Has anyone ever done partner yoga? I wish I had done partner yoga when I was young.
A little behind, BUT...
@GreatHornedOwl I feel I understand when you said you liked Vietnam. I wouldn't trade my time in ANY of the places I've been. When returning from Afghanistan this last time, I was profoundly saddened knowing it would be very unlikely I'd ever return. My roommate couldn't grasp it, as his memory of it was me having to abruptly end our video chats whenever the 'air attack' sirens would go off... 🤷
Oh! I almost forgot about the difference in tobacco... LOL... Yeah, the Russian cigarettes were the most common, but every once in a while, someone would pop up with Camels or Marlboros or even the highly coveted cans of dip... I'd hold on to the dip for aircrews, 'cos they could get you ANYTHING if you were willing to wait for it...
We hired the local women and put them to work manufacturing Vietcong flags. We would spread several of them out on the ground and shoot a bunch of bullet holes into them.Then we would trample on them with our dirty boots, and spill a little chicken blood on them.
It was amazing how much the average G.I. stationed in Saigon would pay for a "genuine, captured Vietcong battle flag.
Nicotine is a nearly universal icebreaker.
@jaswbrown I can see why someone might feel that way about Afghanistan, especially since you are male. That almost guarantees a better experience. I'm glad you liked it. I enjoy your posts.
@GreatHornedOwl Lol. You naughty thing. Just kidding. Interesting and not surprising story.
I noticed someone on the forum named madamecurry. That made me think of something funny that happened long ago at work. A co-worker was talking about the TV show Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? He was an unintelligent bully and know-it-all. He thought the questions were hard.
He asked me one of the questions on the show. Who discovered radium? I said Marie Curie. He said How did you know that?
I politely answered "Because I'm smarter than a fifth-grader". LOL.
I've had 2 guys of different ages call me ma'am today. Lol. I'm trying to remember that is a good thing. Actually, I do kinda like it
@achetocuddle Woe unto those who dare call me Ma'am! Ugh, I don't even call myself a woman. I'm a girl, call me Miss! 😅
@achetocuddle I'm pretty well convinced that you're lots smarter than a fifth-grader. What amazes me, is how many people aren't.
Btw I'm not really all that naughty. We never claimed that the flags were genuine. We just let them draw their own conclusions. Then we would let them talk us into about half of our original asking price. They always believed that they had gotten a real bargain.
@GreatHornedOwl I was just teasing you anyway I admire you. I never take it for granted how relatively easy my life has been, partly because of people like you who served in the armed forces. I thought that y'all's flag business (as in company) was mighty entrepreneurial. I am also amazed by how many grown people are not smarter than a fifth-grader. It's rather worrisome really.
@SunsetSnuggles You are a mere girl , in the good way. It's not funny when they start calling you senora instead of senorita at the Mexican restaurants either. Lol. Sometimes, for a while, they revert to senorita to be sweet.
New subject, really just an aside? If any of you, any gender, meet me in person and hold the door for me, etc. I don't consider that a negative thing
At midnight a new wordle will be online. If you like quick word games, I suggest you play it.
@achetocuddle I hold the door for everyone, every age, every gender.