Economies of intangibility

Hoping to taint this introductory post with my own ideologies as little as possible, I'm just going to say these few things:

* If you understand some concept herein and can explain it for the readership, I invite you to do so.

* If you have direct, first-hand experience with some concept herein and are both legally allowed to and have the desire to share it here, I encourage you to do so.

* If you don't understand some concept herein, I invite you to inquire about it.

Thanks to Javelin, I can refer to the originator of one such notion, Cory Doctorow and his (creative commons licensed) book Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (google or wiki for it. it's not hiding from you) in which the world has moved beyond all tangible measures of 'wealth' (physical 'stuff') and people are measured (kudos to Dr. King, as well) by the content of their character in some way (their 'whuffie'). I know this concept was discussed on M*U*S*H several times, and even implemented for a trial run in some way.

Big Brother -- people using cellphones to snap up photos or video footage of highly embarrassing moments in both public and private locations; stealth cams like the nannycam; etc. -- is watching.

We need new ways of measuring our trust and/or respect of people, situations, and environments.

Discuss...