Sam Gentle.com

Superlative number market

I was reminded today of an idea I've wanted to implement for ages: a superlative number marketplace. I've often wondered if there's a good way to solve the very pressing question of which is the biggest superlative number. Is it a squillion? A zillion? A bajillion? Until now, we've had no way to find the answer. However, I believe with the appropriate combination of the wisdom of crowds and free market economics, this problem like so many others will fall.

The way it works is this: you start with some amount of superlative currency. Say, a squillion dollars. You can then place buy and sell orders on a big market to trade away your puny squillions for the much more valuable gajillions or hojillions. Or vice versa, if that's your thing. Over time, these trades would settle on an approximate collective valuation of the various fictitious numbers.

There are still some things to work out. Mainly, I'm not sure how value enters the system as people sign up. Do new players automatically get a fictitious unit of their choice? That seems like it would violate the no inherent value doctrine. On the other hand, the absolute values aren't really important, it's the exchange rates revealed by trading preferences. I don't know enough to really predict whether how different sources of value would distort the market.

Regardless, I think it's important that these minor problems be resolved in short order, so we can get to the important business of determining which is the most superlative superlative number. We do this thing not because it is easy, but because it is hard.