Re:Ask HN: Is the World Going to Shit?
by friedman23 on Sunday October 23, 2022 @08:00PM
(#33311512)
Are you trying to critique the use of simplified models for analyzing systems in general?
> Now what? That's not "growth", that's a chair
If somebody finds use from the chair that was growth, if it sits unused it was waste. Something of value was created from a bunch of useless pieces of wood and metal.
> How many times can you pull that trick? Eventually you'll reach the economically optimum configuration for those planks of wood.
Really? There is an economic optimum for the most valuable configuration of materials? This also ignores that while growth is occurring other things are being created which will impact the supposed equilibrium state that exists for wood and nails that will change what the most valuable configuration of those materials will be.
Anyway, let's go away from wood and nails. What about ink and paper. Or just words? Or just thoughts? What is the economic value of the observation the F = ma? Newton probably created infinite economic value by putting the observation that F=ma to paper.
> Now what? That's not "growth", that's a chair
If somebody finds use from the chair that was growth, if it sits unused it was waste. Something of value was created from a bunch of useless pieces of wood and metal.
> How many times can you pull that trick? Eventually you'll reach the economically optimum configuration for those planks of wood.
Really? There is an economic optimum for the most valuable configuration of materials? This also ignores that while growth is occurring other things are being created which will impact the supposed equilibrium state that exists for wood and nails that will change what the most valuable configuration of those materials will be.
Anyway, let's go away from wood and nails. What about ink and paper. Or just words? Or just thoughts? What is the economic value of the observation the F = ma? Newton probably created infinite economic value by putting the observation that F=ma to paper.