Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#101

Post by cnees » Fri, Nov 11, 2022, 4:45 AM UTC

I guess I make a thumbprint database. Anyone who submits a previously unseen thumbprint pair to the database gets a dollar sent to the account they specify. That way, each thumbprint set is effectively worth one dollar, minus the trouble of submitting it.

Aggregators emerge to pay other people a bit less than a dollar for their prints (upon confirmation of uniqueness), and they leech off some of the money, but they distribute a lot of it and reach people and places I couldn't.

Some new problems to solve are 1. Can I avoid hosting and comparing uniqueness of eight billion thumbprint sets? 2. How do I avoid accepting fake, computer-generated thumbprints? 3. Is there a better alternative to thumbprints?

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#102

Post by paulluuk » Fri, Nov 11, 2022, 8:21 AM UTC

laurencei wrote: post #28

At the risk of been downvoted: you cant. It is impossible. Even if you had $30 billion, and your goal was to guarantee the distribution of only $1 to everyone, it still wouldnt occur with all the excess. When you factor in corruption, fraud, inadequate infrastructure, and vague defining of the parameters. Just think of the edge cases to understand why this couldnt be achieved: 1. A subset of the population will ACTIV…

OP here: I don't see why you'd be downvoted for this, it's a fair point! I agree with each of your three points, and in response I'll change the requirements a bit:

How can I get 1 dollar to as many people as possible, while spending the least amount of money on transactional costs or fighting fraud/corruption?

I think all of the edge cases you named above can be dealt with given this new requirement. Some fraud and corruption will happen for sure, just like with any financial transaction anywhere in the world. I would say that fighting fraud/corruption is only worth it, if the cost of fighting it is less than what you'd lose to it if left unchecked. A dead grandma will be too expensive to disprove, but someone making thousands of fake personas must be detectable somehow, such as re-using the same bank account or adress a thousand times.

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#103

Post by memalign » Fri, Nov 11, 2022, 10:11 AM UTC

cnees wrote: post #101

I guess I make a thumbprint database. Anyone who submits a previously unseen thumbprint pair to the database gets a dollar sent to the account they specify. That way, each thumbprint set is effectively worth one dollar, minus the trouble of submitting it. Aggregators emerge to pay other people a bit less than a dollar for their prints (upon confirmation of uniqueness), and they leech off some of the money, but they d…

It might also be important to verify that the thumbs are attached to a living body…

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#104

Post by IYasha » Fri, Nov 11, 2022, 10:57 AM UTC

postalrat wrote: post #78

Infect everyone with a virus that will kill them in a few years unless they get the vaccine. Offer to give the vaccine and $1 to anyone who tests negative for previously taking the vaccine. In a few years everyone on earth will either have the $1 or will be dead.

Horrendously good and working answer... Mr. Gates, pls login.

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#105

Post by wnkrshm » Fri, Nov 11, 2022, 1:48 PM UTC

jakelazaroff wrote: post #12

Ptchd wrote: post #10

I had this idea for a world crypto where everyone would start with the same amount... the biggest challenge that I saw was how to verify identities so that no-one could claim other's crypto.

Have you considered building a device that will scan people's retinas, then recruiting volunteers to deploy it around the world?

Can you make a retina scanner good enough that it recognizes a retina correctly with 99.999999% accuracy? Retinas can change, get damaged.

Re: Ask HN: How would I send 1 dollar to everyone on Earth?

#106

Post by wnkrshm » Fri, Nov 11, 2022, 1:52 PM UTC

postalrat wrote: post #78

Infect everyone with a virus that will kill them in a few years unless they get the vaccine. Offer to give the vaccine and $1 to anyone who tests negative for previously taking the vaccine. In a few years everyone on earth will either have the $1 or will be dead.

What about people who think it's not real and who will be randomly immune?