What are the cons and the pros of using the Stack Exchange reputation system as a currency?
For some reasons, Stack Exchange became its own country and decides to use its reputation system as the official currency. What would be the advantages and the disadvantages of such a system in comparison with current monetary systems?
This post was sourced from https://worldbuilding.stackexchange.com/q/34011. It is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.
1 answer
One disadvantage is that it would tie monetary gain to hive mind thinking.
Say you live in an area where the majority of people see women as second class citizens.
If you get up and say "You know, I think women should be treated as equals, and get to drive cars and own property" you'd get down voted all over the place and there goes your life savings.
This could be an advantage if the current popular opinion is one you agree with, but even then it could discourage people from thinking new things that they believe might be controversial at first.
It also gives trolls to much power over you.
Also, people who are charismatic and good at communicating will do better than those that aren't as strong in that area.
Something similar to this is the reputation system in the book Down And Out In The Magic Kingdom by Cory Doctorow, where they are essentially post scarcity, except in service related areas, so they are able to make it work.
The more you help others, the higher your reputation, and the higher your reputation score the more likely people are going to want to help you. If you start freeloading then your reputation will suffer, and you'll have to work harder to get it back.
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