What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money • Hacker News Board

Re: What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money

#11

Post by jessaustin » Mon, May 23, 2016, 5:11 PM UTC

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #7

joe_the_user wrote: post #2

I tend to agree with the article that mobile payments and such don't feel like they provide much value. If there are system allowed people to walk into stores and just take stuff without waiting in line, the time savings would be huge. But the time spent in actually physically swiping a credit card is minimal so even once the glitches are gone, the payoff in convenience is mediocre at best.

Why can't we have this: Mobile phones + barcode scanners + CCTV + object/facial recognition = convenient shopping experience where you can pick up what you need, scan it, and walk out having paid by phone. CCTV algorithms can flag potential shoplifters or shoppers who forgot to scan certain items. If it can be pulled off then it could mean fewer people working checkout and less spending on bags. But, on the other han…

If you could build the rest of it, scanning could be replaced easily by RFID. I think some packaging already includes RFID.

Re: What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money

#12

Post by Spellman » Mon, May 23, 2016, 5:14 PM UTC

intopieces wrote: post #10

theandrewbailey wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why Christians get anxious about applying events in Revelations to the current day. Do they not believe that they aren't going to be here for it?

>Do they not believe that they aren't going to be here for it? There are three main beliefs within Christianity: Some believe that the rapture will occur before the rise of the Antichrist and the events described in Revelation (note the singular). Some believe that Christ will call home the faithful midway through the strife. Some believe that only those who are faithful for the complete event will be called up. I ha…

Yup, there are three schools of thought.

Premillenialism, Amillennialism, and Postmillenialism.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millennialism

Most Evangelicals believe in Premillenialism (thank you Left Behind Series) so the grandparent is correct they believe they won't be around for the acts of Revelation. But they are also super paranoid about this stuff and see things like this (and the adoption of stuff like this) as signs that the End Times are coming.

Plus, no one really know which will occur, and there's a field of thought that believe by taking the Mark of the Beast you won't be saved anymore (again, thank you Left Behind series) so they are SUPER paranoid.

Re: What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money

#13

Post by fu9ar » Mon, May 23, 2016, 5:15 PM UTC

intopieces wrote: post #10

theandrewbailey wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't understand why Christians get anxious about applying events in Revelations to the current day. Do they not believe that they aren't going to be here for it?

>Do they not believe that they aren't going to be here for it? There are three main beliefs within Christianity: Some believe that the rapture will occur before the rise of the Antichrist and the events described in Revelation (note the singular). Some believe that Christ will call home the faithful midway through the strife. Some believe that only those who are faithful for the complete event will be called up. I ha…

There are also Christians who believe it was an allegorical story based on events that were happening when it was written.

Re: What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money

#14

Post by mpclark » Mon, May 23, 2016, 5:22 PM UTC

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #9

theandrewbailey wrote: post #5

Does any one have a guess as to how future-proof these current chips are? Just like other new tech products, I can't imagine that they will be fully compatible with the majority of the payment ecosystem in 10 years.

I imagine every few years you'll go in for a checkup with your iDoctor.

It seems to me that implanting a payment chip makes no more sense than tattooing on one's clothing...

Re: What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money

#15

Post by joe_the_user » Mon, May 23, 2016, 5:22 PM UTC

rm_-rf_slash wrote: post #7

joe_the_user wrote: post #2

I tend to agree with the article that mobile payments and such don't feel like they provide much value. If there are system allowed people to walk into stores and just take stuff without waiting in line, the time savings would be huge. But the time spent in actually physically swiping a credit card is minimal so even once the glitches are gone, the payoff in convenience is mediocre at best.

Why can't we have this: Mobile phones + barcode scanners + CCTV + object/facial recognition = convenient shopping experience where you can pick up what you need, scan it, and walk out having paid by phone. CCTV algorithms can flag potential shoplifters or shoppers who forgot to scan certain items. If it can be pulled off then it could mean fewer people working checkout and less spending on bags. But, on the other han…

I suspect such a system would be harder to create than one would think. Face recognition seems like it's always to going to be too glitchy to guarantee the smooth operation of a "pick it and leave" system. My guess is that the smoothest functioning system would involve rfid's or the equivalent which signal that they were close to a given shopper. Prius and other autos already have doors that unlock only when someone is carrying the key-dongle. And clever ways to hack these system are already here too (amplifiers, for example).

Re: What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money

#16

Post by cousin_it » Mon, May 23, 2016, 5:27 PM UTC

Why implants? They are such a hassle to upgrade. I thought we'd skip them entirely and go from wallets to phones to fingerprints. And then to a central AI that can recognize you from a video feed.

Re: What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money

#17

Post by protomyth » Mon, May 23, 2016, 5:39 PM UTC

intopieces wrote: post #8

jzymbaluk wrote: post #3

This is a very fascinating story for me. I remember as a child my ( conservative, christian ) parents having long, serious discussions about credit cards and banking. They were wrestling with the same section of scripture that the writer quoted, Revelations 13:16-17: "It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,so that they co…

Serious question: What is the difference between having a card and having a chip? I mean, theologically, and what is your particular hesitation? Growing up in a conservative, christian household myself, there were rumblings that the Mark of the Beast had already arrived in the form of a Social Security Number.

Some groups teach "the mark of the beast" fairly literally (e.g. SSN, credit cards, etc.), but I was taught it is not literal but symbolic of having to profess a heretical belief to participate in commerce with the hand / head position relating to the way you professed the belief. It goes along with the rest of the symbolism in Revelations. Literal vs Symbolic is a long running topic in most Christian churches.

Re: What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money

#18

Post by throwanem » Mon, May 23, 2016, 5:42 PM UTC

fu9ar wrote: post #13

intopieces wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>Do they not believe that they aren't going to be here for it? There are three main beliefs within Christianity: Some believe that the rapture will occur before the rise of the Antichrist and the events described in Revelation (note the singular). Some believe that Christ will call home the faithful midway through the strife. Some believe that only those who are faithful for the complete event will be called up. I ha…

There are also Christians who believe it was an allegorical story based on events that were happening when it was written.

Yes, and we call these "most Christians". Dispensationalism of whatever stripe is pretty unusual, for all that it was heavily discussed last decade.

Re: What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money

#19

Post by hvm » Mon, May 23, 2016, 5:43 PM UTC

MikeNomad wrote: post #6

Cash is not going away anytime soon for at least a couple of reasons: Trust (Account Overloards say I have 100 USD in my account when I actually have 1,000), and cash is a very handy debt instrument for the issuer. (and) FDR did not take the US off the gold standard, he outlawed private ownership of gold. Nixon took the US off the gold standard in the early 70s.

> he outlawed private ownership of gold

So if you buy gold in the US, you are actually renting it from the government or something?

Re: What the Mark of the Beast Taught Me About the Future of Money

#20

Post by ArkyBeagle » Mon, May 23, 2016, 5:47 PM UTC

theandrewbailey wrote: post #4

jzymbaluk wrote: post #3

This is a very fascinating story for me. I remember as a child my ( conservative, christian ) parents having long, serious discussions about credit cards and banking. They were wrestling with the same section of scripture that the writer quoted, Revelations 13:16-17: "It also forced all people, great and small, rich and poor, free and slave, to receive a mark on their right hands or on their foreheads,so that they co…

I don't understand why Christians get anxious about applying events in Revelations to the current day. Do they not believe that they aren't going to be here for it?

The brand of Christianity in which I was trained does not take any of Revelation as a prophecy but rather analogous to what Mark Twain did in "Letters from Earth." Considering John of Patmos' circumstances at the time ( he was living in exile ) and the subsequent scholarship, this is largely the most reasonable interpretation.

The Fundamentalists evolved differently from the main European Christianities - think of a small village of practitioners separated from any strong institutional backing. You'll get "telephone game" distortions.