Post AsPBTcOptOVPgrLbkW by meeoo@toot.community
 (DIR) More posts by meeoo@toot.community
 (DIR) Post #AsOPYCrfSkVy8vxIQq by futurebird@sauropods.win
       2025-03-24T21:55:32Z
       
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       What do economists (classical) think of all coins tossed in ponds or pots never to be retrieved, of all the bent swords and brooches made of precious metals at the bottom bogs left for the gods?There is persistent cross-cultural evidence of people making offerings of precisely the durable goods and currency that are supposed to be the atoms of a rational system acted on by people who are supposed to be rational vectors.
       
 (DIR) Post #AsOQQNQsO5wWYYFpWC by RFDave@mastodon.social
       2025-03-24T22:05:16Z
       
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       @futurebird I think that the idea that people are rational actors when it comes to economic activity was propagated by people who never actually met other human beings.
       
 (DIR) Post #AsORtA35KKZ7OpPoR6 by JugglingWithEggs@mstdn.social
       2025-03-24T22:21:41Z
       
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       @futurebird I don’t think the economists I knew back in the late noughties had factored wishing wells and other valuable offerings made to Gods into game theory. They might argue such actions are irrational acts, but then they assume most people’s primary motivator is greed. But I would imagine many people wishing for good luck through depositing a token, are not hoping for financial gain, but to see a loved one again, for better health or good exam results.
       
 (DIR) Post #AsPBTcOptOVPgrLbkW by meeoo@toot.community
       2025-03-25T06:52:30Z
       
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       @futurebird in the end I think these actions are an acknowledgement of reciprocity and interdependence with the greater world. Which is extremely rational.
       
 (DIR) Post #AsPIGkCYH0mhnmPTZw by llewelly@sauropods.win
       2025-03-25T08:08:39Z
       
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       @futurebird I have definitely encountered the argument that these rituals convert economic value into social value; the sacrificed objects are lost, but some social good is gained. Perhaps unsurprisingly, I have encountered it most often in the context of archaeology.
       
 (DIR) Post #AsPj411t5rSQzUZpIm by mansr@society.oftrolls.com
       2025-03-25T13:08:49Z
       
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       @futurebird Never? The more popular ones are probably emptied weekly or they'd be overflowing. The question is, do the coins retrieved cover the cost of hiring someone to do it?