Australians believe in spooks!

[iamaboringperson]

http://theage.com.au/articles/2004/02/24/1077594826710.html

The survey of 1000 people found eight in 10 Australians believe there are people who posses psychic powers. At least seven in 10 believe in the afterlife and in haunted houses.

:lol:
I must say that only a couple of months ago, I met a young woman who believed that her father haunted one of the rooms in her mothers house!

And that's only one of the many people I've met over the past year or so who believe in such things.

[adz]

Make that two people in the last year, me, well you kinda met me last year, well learnt of my existence anyway, I'll shut up now... :nervous:  :nervous:  :nervous:

[T_Bone]

My sister in law is kind of a freak. She started screaming at me once last summer because I touched a rock she had on a bookshelf. I supposedly contaminated the crystal and brought her bad luck. :roll:

[mikeymike]

A flatmate a few years ago was watching UK Living (a crappy UK satellite/cable channel) with a guy who is supposedly psychic on it.  I laughed, and my flatmate took me up on a serious argument on why I didn't believe that guy could do what he claimed.

In the end it comes down to, what if it really worked, that it wasn't just all cheap parlour tricks.  Imagine how many people would be employed in the police force using these skills for starters... or as private detectives, or pretty much any field of work that requires a level of investigation.  Me knowing what went wrong with a computer in five minutes because I'm psychic and had a vision of the user deleting all his files... :-)

[FluffyMcDeath]

T_Bone wrote:
My sister in law is kind of a freak. She started screaming at me once last summer because I touched a rock she had on a bookshelf. I supposedly contaminated the crystal and brought her bad luck. :roll:

Bet you felt like "contaminating" the side of her head with a clue-by-four.

[FluffyMcDeath]

mikeymike wrote:
Imagine how many people would be employed in the police force using these skills for starters...

Casinos would go broke.
Everything you buy would suddenly get way cheaper because the free market would operate efficiently since you would know what the other guys costs were and he wouldn't be able to make 200% margin.

[Speelgoedmannetje]

Pha! Here in Groningen (northern part of the Netherlands) all this is just plain unthinkable.

[T_Bone]

FluffyMcDeath wrote:

mikeymike wrote:
Imagine how many people would be employed in the police force using these skills for starters...

Casinos would go broke.
Everything you buy would suddenly get way cheaper because the free market would operate efficiently since you would know what the other guys costs were and he wouldn't be able to make 200% margin.

After a time, that lack in profit would correct itself as businesses started making less money, paying less dividends, etc  :-)

[FluffyMcDeath]

T_Bone wrote:

After a time, that lack in profit would correct itself as businesses started making less money, paying less dividends, etc  :-)

Exactly. In a perfectly efficient, no-one makes any profit. Profit only comes from inefficiency, which comes from disrupting information. If I'm trying to sell you something, it is important that I never tell you what I paid for it.

[vortexau]

RESPONSE-
Most certainly, just look to Pine Gap:
image
Photos Of Secret US Pine
Gap Australian Base

[iamaboringperson]

Casinos would go broke.

Probably.

Everything you buy would suddenly get way cheaper because the free market would operate efficiently since you would know what the other guys costs were and he wouldn't be able to make 200% margin.

I disagree.

Why would people not buy just because there is a huge profit margin. I mean, everybody knows there is a profit margin, yet ofcourse they still buy.

If you want the product and are prepared to pay, you will buy regardless of whether you know what the profit margin is.

[Fade]

Let's see if I got this right.

If
product + 0% profit = selling price

Then
selling price >= good

Else
company + 0% profit = why bother

 

[iamaboringperson]

In a perfectly efficient, no-one makes any profit. Profit only comes from inefficiency, which comes from disrupting information.

People wouldn't have businesses without profit.

Who could be bothered going through all the crap that is necessary to open a shop, if there is no profit to be made?? That would be -> :crazy:


No profit = No business

If I'm trying to sell you something, it is important that I never tell you what I paid for it.

Why is it important?

Sometimes people like to know what it cost the retailer before they buy. FACT.

[iamaboringperson]

company + 0% profit = why bother

:lol: Exactly!

And I think that's the logic that Fluff is trying to convey! Erm... I that is, I think he wants nobody to work or trade!


And 0 profit is NOT more efficient! Imagine if businesses(assuming they still existed) began making 0 profits(not deliberately for this example, but due to say... an "act of god").

Businesses would go broke, shut up shop, some new moron would come along who thinks he can do business, spends some dough to open a new shop - no profit, wham! No more business.

If people try to open shops, you'll find a big turn over of shop keepers in the same area. And a crap load of money will be wasted in doing it.

That sir, is not efficient! :lol:

[FluffyMcDeath]

iamaboringperson wrote:

No profit = No business

If I'm trying to sell you something, it is important that I never tell you what I paid for it.

Why is it important?

Sometimes people like to know what it cost the retailer before they buy. FACT.

If people are rational, they will want to get the best price that they can for a given item. (This is why competition is supposed to serve the consumer by bringing down prices). If they know what the cost of the item was in the first place they can have a pretty good idea of their bargaining position and they can refuse to buy for more.

Example:
If you are trying to buy a watch from a guy and he wants $100 for it, and the information you have available is that other sellers are selling the watch for $50, you'll probably try to talk him down, or pass. If you also happen to know that he bought the watch for $5 you are more inclined to try to bargain for a lower figure than $50.

Given the choice between him getting profit and you getting a deal, which is the more important to you?

If you want to get a good price for something that you are selling, you must let the customer get the impression that they are getting a good deal out of you. If they find out how little you paid they will push harder for a better deal.