tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post7093275108853094413..comments2024-03-28T09:26:25.931+11:00Comments on Thinking Out Aloud: Money as transaction goodLorenzohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00305933404442191098noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post-70846182813745912202012-02-25T17:08:34.161+11:002012-02-25T17:08:34.161+11:00A related element is that money is impersonal. A m...A related element is that money is impersonal. A money transaction could be with anyone. Transactions where an essential point is the personal connection, that very message of personal connection is vitiated by the impersonality of money.Lorenzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00305933404442191098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post-58981767421571685222012-02-25T12:33:54.188+11:002012-02-25T12:33:54.188+11:00That makes a great deal of sense.That makes a great deal of sense.Lorenzohttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00305933404442191098noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2197051945822486684.post-9150898092422287182012-02-25T10:44:18.489+11:002012-02-25T10:44:18.489+11:00> why there are a whole lot of transactions we ...> why there are a whole lot of transactions we engage in which are so personal that using money would be inappropriate.<br /><br />I think the reason that very very personal transactions are not done with money is because the value of money is far TOO transparent. <br /><br />We sometimes want signalling to be muddy, or deniable. If I value a woman enough to cook her a fancy dinner, and I do not usually supply the service of on-site catering for a fee, then I can engage in it at whatever cost it has to me (forgone opportunity to read a book), she can enjoy it to some degree ("eww! burnt food!"), yet still imagine that the intended value is much higher ("he's SO romantic!"), and then tell her girlfriends about it for comparative status jockeying ("your boyfriend got you flowers? Well MINE cooked me dinner!"). At each step of the signalling chain the two parties are free to have subjectively different valuations. ...and even if they suspect what the other party truly thinks, they can massage their own egos, or brag, etc. as they want.<br /><br />A check for $22.45 (not $25 even ... this woman isn't THAT good!) is not deniable, and is far too strictly ordered with all the other real numbered dollar values.TJIChttp://tjic.comnoreply@blogger.com