Don't worry I understood the principle of bitshares being "bets" instead of IOU's, but as was mentioned by MolonLabe I'm having some issues grasping how the price is determined and how the bets are refereed by the system. I'm a bit worried that since we're not talking IOU's and the price of for example gold is not referenced from any external average price index, that prices may get a bit wild.
As I said I'm new to this kind of trading and have no experience in how these markets usually work, maybe it's just me being confused by multiple floating data-points (both bitshares and bitgold fluctuating in price separately, which suggests having to do a lot of corrective calculations manually if those prices aren't deduced automagically). I'm trying to understand how the system comes to a consensus and trying to figure out what's keeping everyone on the same page, so to speak. As I understand it all prices are dictated by the human participants, so I was wondering if widespread confusion about the unit of measure could lead to problems. Then again, how could you trust a 3rd party price index? I'm trying to work out how the system remains honest and secured from exploits by less trustworthy people.
I'm working my way through the white-papers, but exhaustion is having it's toll. My brain, which is allready rickety to begin with, is now firing on less cylinders than usual.