There are two types of marketplaces, those that have a limited number of actors and are informal and those that have a near-unlimited number of actors and are highly formalized. From the perspective of a deterministic set, an informal marketplace has a finite number of actors whereas a formal marketplace has a non-finite number of actors. Collaboration is only possible in a finite marketplace.

While these sets may both be considered finite in a pure mathematical sense, to the deterministic actor they are very different.

“The fear of infinity is a form of myopia that destroys the possibility of seeing the actual infinite, even though it in its highest form has created and sustains us, and in its secondary transfinite forms occurs all around us and even inhabits our minds.” – Georg Cantor, Founder, Set Theory