Listening to this podcast, an interesting analogy was made. The guest had written a book about zero. Yes, the book is about the number zero. I believe it was the host that made a clever point. Zero is about nothingness, but oddly, it is that nothingness that actually is the value...its utility as a placeholder.
The illustration was conjured of clay and how it can be molded into say, into a vase. The vase, however, is not what actually gives it worth, it is the emptiness, the nothingness that makes the vase worth anything (beyond something pretty to look at, which does have its own value). But, you see the point...is is the emptiness that gives the vase its value.
Furthermore, the vase is just the vessel to transfer something else that actually has the value...water. In this way, the vase isn't even the valuable item, the water inside is. The vase is only a tool to transfer the value.
Consider money. Money is the vessel to transfer something else of value. The piece of paper, the fiat money, is just a tool to transfer something else that has value.
Let's combine the vase and money analogies. Instead of a vase made of clay, consider a paper cup. And, imagine you're wandering in the middle of a hot desert. You have a paper cup, but it is worthless. At least, it's worthless without water...that thing you value tremendously at the moment. You consider tossing the cup, but think, "No, I might find water and then I could use the cup to hold my water and transfer it as I walk along." You hold your paper cup.
Imagine you come upon a paper cup printer. (There certainly is a machine that makes paper cups, though I'm not sure why it's in the middle of the desert.) No amount of paper cup printing will help you. You might print a thousand paper cups, but still empty, they have no value.
Imagine you find a bottle of water. You fill your cup. Great find! That water has priceless value. Now, imagine pouring out your cup of water into the thousand other paper cups that you printed. Are you any better off? No, you are not.
What if you printed a million paper cups? A billion? Or a few trillion paper cups, then carefully poured a fraction of a droplet of water into each of those cups? Are you better off now? And how are things working out for you after those nano-droplets quickly evaporate in the desert sun?
Consider bitcoin. The vase/money analogy can be used, but it's also different. Bitcoin is both the vase and the money. It is the vessel and the value. Bitcoin both serves as the tool to transfer value, and it actually is the valuable asset. Unlike the paper cup vessel or fiat money which can be printed ad infinitum, bitcoin cannot. Thus, it's better money.
Now, I just need a bitcoin vase.
Images made at leonardo.ai
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The way you are telling, his book is very special and interesting, so I will try to read it.