is money a replicator?

[STeve555]

I mean in the sense of "genes" and "memes"....is money a replicator on itself?

 

Are there any other replicators beside genes and memes?

 

[Iota]

A replicator is transmitted and a copy is made... In the case of a gene, it is passed onto the next generation of organisms and reproduced; in the case of memes they are transmitted from one host to the next.

 

Money doesn't really do this, it's just passed from one person to the next, and this process doesn't generate more... replicators are analogous to genes in that they undergo some form of natural selection, which determines whether more is made or if it eventually dies out. They also undergo a form of mutation, where changes are made to them throughout time. Money doesn't do this.

 

If this doesn't make much sense, try working out a basic definition for a replicator yourself and see if money fits... or anything else for that matter.

Edited February 4, 2013 by Iota

[CharonY]

Fire, on the other hand could be considered a replicator of sorts. Neither example has anything to do with biology so I am not sure how that fits into this section?

[fresh]

Fire, on the other hand could be considered a replicator of sorts. Neither example has anything to do with biology so I am not sure how that fits into this section?

 

Great minds think alike.

definition of replicator is copy, like photocopying.

fire is one of the most magical substance in nature, and it is more than replicator, and of course it fits in chemistry not biology.

[Civat]

Hmm I don't think so :/

[STeve555]

this is biology, since the brains are biology. I can pigeonhole this subject anywhere I like, it always sticks.

 

I was not speaking of physical money, like dollar bills. Though dough can be copied as a meme for sure. I was speaking of "interest" and "black numbers versus red numbers" Ghost money is you will. Metaphysical money.

 

The black box of the stock market. And economics has grown out of human comprehension since no expert can predict its flow any longer. It has become a rather holistic monster, bigger than its own parts, which even experts have no control of - meaning not even an expert can predict the will and direction of its capricious mind . And I mean it in the sense that money, physical dollar bills, know a certain law. That money knows a law of conversation like energy. Money can devaluate with every currency known, but on this earth itself it only gets passed on from one hand to another. Isnt economy a system like the weather with high and lows and keeps shifting but all in all the energy it is comprised off never loses significant power.

I mean: unless bill gates burns all his money physically would the earth notice. Isn't money inheritable and transfered from one generation to another? And thus in the metaphysical meaning, an abstract meme?

 

All memes are abstract I reckon, since how else can you describe the flames of a fire or the thoughts in human minds? Ephemeral?

But is money not a vehicle of memes to get spread themselves? Isnt the only thing for free in this world "sunshine"? Memes obviously spread faster when they are for free, or do they? What if the hard cash market is on top of the free-bee-market?

 

Do we not all pay more for our mobile phone usage than internet?

 

Money as a possible replicator without ancestory? Money, not controlable by human minds but it reproduces through interest, like drugs could perhaps be a replicator and is not a meme since under influence of drugs you can make new drugs. Is it not money that buys bibles or korans or a talmud? They are not for free no more.

 

Is not money the power that shakes the cards in this world? Does it not influence evolution in the follow way:

poor people can not buy expensive fruits and can not play sports to keep healthy, they can only buy food that is less expensive than fruit, vegetables and vitamine tablets. Maybe Mcdonalds is a replicator too.

and when fire is a replicator, how is ice not one? Why should ice be a replicator?

I personally do not see why fire is a replicator since I do not see the "vehicle".

 

how can you copy a fire? can you literally copy a fire flame to flame?

 

Is not the definition of a replicator that you can make it digital an entity?

How can you turn flames of fire digital?

Edited February 6, 2013 by STeve555

[ralfy]

This is how money is created:

 

"The Myth of the Money Multiplier"

 

 

http://www.businessspectator.com.au/bs.nsf/Article/money-supply-economics-economy-bank-reserves-infla-pd20121022-ZAS44

[John Cuthber]

I suspect that when people who had not "invented" money saw other peoples using it, they copied the idea.

In that sense it's a replicator.

[cicero]

Money is a meme.

CAPITAL is a replicator. It replicates through economic entities / "economic organisms" like businesses.

[Dekan]

Money is a meme.

CAPITAL is a replicator. It replicates through economic entities / "economic organisms" like businesses.

That's true. Consider this: Suppose you have some money, say ten dollars. Then you stuff the bills under your mattress, and leave them there for ten years.

 

Then at the end of the ten years, you lift up the mattress, to take a look. There's still only ten bills there. They haven't replicated at all. You still have the same "Capital".

Whereas, it would be different if you'd put the bills into an economic entity. Such as a business, or even a savings bank. Your capital would be at least 11 dollars, or more.

 

That's because , as cicero wisely suggests, money is not a mere dead store of value. Rather, it's a living seed of "Capital" - which can grow and replicate - through economic organisms like business.

[iNow]

Actually, if you put those bills under the bed then you'd have less after 10 years due to inflation and increased cost of living.

[cicero]

Here is a short article based on the book "Evolution of Money" by Mérő László:

http://schoolonomic.blogspot.hu/2012/11/how-can-money-serve-as-replicator.html

 

The whole book is dedicated to the topic discussed.

The only problem is, I dont think it was published in english (but I could be wrong).

[DrP]

Money is simply a "medium of exchange", by definition.

[cicero]

Money is simply a "medium of exchange", by definition.

 

Actually, thats only one single function of money (out of five).