The Text Focuses on Materiality and Material Culture, Which Subsumes

question 39

Essay

The text focuses on materiality and material culture, which subsumes the "things" we have, hold, use, and exchange in the course of our lives. Consider the existence of virtual worlds-Fortnite, Minecraft, Worlds of Warcraft, even Bitcoins-that are distinctly non-physical, non-material, and yet each one has within it a very real kind of materiality. It is possible to purchase special credits or things as part of a virtual world or game, and Bitcoin, the invention of an anonymous individual, has gradually become a means by which physical objects can in fact be purchased. How can we evaluate these "things" as material culture? What might some of the implications for future archaeologists be who "excavate" a virtual space?

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Definitions:

Labor

The exertion of physical or mental capacities by individuals in the creation of products and services.

Short-Run Total Cost

The total of all costs (fixed and variable) involved in the production of a good or service over a short period.

Production Function

A mathematical model that describes the relationship between input quantities and the resultant output of goods or services.

Labor

The utilization of human physical and mental capacities in the creation process of goods and services.