[ExI] thought experiment part 2

[Adrian Tymes]

I know far too many people who, if they were to do that experiment,
would wind up desperately clinging to - or chained to (for this
thought experiment, assuming solid but massless chains) - helium
balloons more than capable of lifting them far up into the sky.  By
metaphor, this keeps them away from all the interesting possibilities
on the ground (which are explored mostly by those laden with money),
not to mention away from convenient access to services that those on
the ground take for granted.

On Wed, Nov 26, 2025 at 8:02 PM spike jones via extropy-chat
<extropy-chat at lists.extropy.org> wrote:
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> From: spike at rainier66.com <spike at rainier66.com>
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> >…I often talk about a ton of money, well how much is that?...Now your ton of money is 20 million bucks.  Oy, I need to scoot once again…spike
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> Dang this is a busy day.  It is the day before a US holiday, and we are intending to celebrate with friends.  There are preparations, for which I have been recruited.  This note may be incomplete, for duty may call.
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> As a thought experiment, estimate your net worth in American $20s.  If you are American and think in pounds, estimate your net worth in dollars, one sig fig is close enough for this purpose, take that net worth, knock off four digits and that’s your net worth in pounds.  Cut it in half if you think in kilos.
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> If you have a mortgage or school debt, count that as negative, a big helium balloon hauling away your sack of $20s.  If that balloon is big enough to hoist your entire net worth in $20s, well you are not worthless, not even busted.  Just… temporarily… disadvantaged.  No worries, estimate on please.
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> OK that pile of $20s: can you put it in a duffel bag and haul it away on your back?  Can your car trunk carry it?  Do you need a pickup truck?  Did you notice the proverbial buttload of money isn’t very much?  Are you worth your weight in American $20s?  Estimate your net worth, then the weight (never mind the volume) of your net worth in $20s, then when I get back from peeling potatoes, I will get to part 3 of this thought experiment, which was a sprout off of John Clark’s comment or idea.
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> John, Adrian, the rest of yas, it’s just a game or fun exercise, estimate it to one digit of precison (but don’t post it (I am not asking your net worth (only asking that you estimate your net worth (then convert that to weight in lunch tickets (US $20s (as preparation for the next part.))))))
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> Gotta scoot.
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> spike
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