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When we say pyramid schemes are not sales businesses, or NFTs are not art, I think we sneak value judgements into what should be objective definitions. If we were to have a definition of a sales business in the dictionary, it would not read: 'A business based around sales. Except for pyramid schemes because they are bad.'

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The pyramid scheme allegory was bad.

A non value judgement allegory would be receipts. Receipts are not art. You can have art of a receipt, you can make a receipt into art, but receipts are categorically not art.

NFTs are basically digital receipts.

Except the real world is messy and doesn't fall into the perfectly neat definitions like the algorithmic or mathematical world does.

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