This is where a complex service like catallax can come in, especially if it integrates with ratings. Free Agent Jack has completed 15 bounties successfully (he's been paid out, Arbiters and Patrons have closed out the jobs as satisfactory). That alone tells you something about his reliability. But if the bounties are also categorized - 5 were about marketing, 10 were software development - and he got really bad ratings on the marketing ones and on average good ratings on the software development ones, well now you can glean that Jack is a good coder but a shit marketer, even though he's been paid for all of it. ....If you're still reading.. To make matters even wilder: in YOUR GrapeVine's opinion, Arbiter John has terrible judgement about code, while Arbiter Tom knows excellent software. 5 of Jack's super positive "software" reviews are from John, and it turns out that the other 5 are really lukewarm "software" reviews from Tom, who actually knows his shit. So now **you** determine that Jack might not actually be as talented a developer as it seemed, since you consider Tom a code authority and he's never been impressed with Jack (while dumbass John thinks Jack is the greatest). And if by some wild stretch of the imagination you're still with me: Steve's GrapeVine has a very different opinion of Arbiters John and Tom! In Steve's world, everyone says John is a quiet genius and Tom is actually just a loudmouth who has tricked everyone into thinking he's some software guru. So Steve's GrapeVine implies that Jack is actually really talented and appreciated by the true experts (while being misunderstood by the impostors). Same catallax events, same npubs, same job statuses, same payments rendered, same reviews given - but different opinions of the people and services involved, thus entirely opposing worldviews and expectations. **This is the human layer, and this is why it matters for markets and cybereconomies**. Because Human action and individuals' entrepreneurial activities are what create value. ...Eventually, Jack's software makes it out into the world and attempts to thrive for a few years. Does it end up being great or terrible? As this is the ultimate test of any opinions, performance after contact with the real world will actually help determine whether YOUR GrapeVine or Steve's had the better prediction. And real value will accrue accordingly.