Thoughts on The Intrinsic Value of Precious Things
Posted: Saturday, October 30, 2010
by Donovan Baldwin
No Diet 4 Me
I heard a discussion the other day about the value of gold, and it worked its way around to the intrinsic value of things in general. As usual, my mind took some of the info, played with it a while, and the following thoughts emerged.
Food has one form of value because it can be "traded" to others for items we do not have. Most commonly today, food is traded for money, worthless in itself but which has an agreed upon value in our society. Then, the money, can be traded for other goods and services.
Precious things such as gold or diamonds, on the other hand, despite the created value they enjoy in the modern world are, for most of us, relatively useless. Except for that agreed upon value they have in our society as it exists, they are in and of themselves pretty much worthless.
In the discussion I heard, it was mentioned that many people, fearing economic meltdown and potential chaos, are purchasing gold. While this could possibly be a wise investment under the right circumstances if there is chaos, a wiser investment might be guns, bullets, generators, fuel, and batteries.
The point was also made that in the aftermath of hurricane Katrina, a bottle of pure water had a higher value to many of the stranded inhabitants of New Orleans, than many other previously "precious" things.
The intrinsic value of something resides, at least in my mind, in the reality of what it can actually accomplish for us.
As mentioned, food can keep us alive. Medicine can keep us alive and well. Less material things such as knowledge, applied by a skilled practitioner can produce value to us as well.
In that case, does the value reside in the skill or knowledge itself, or in the practitioner who has learned the skill and applies the knowledge learned?
I think it's within the one who releases the value to us.
I like to believe that love, respect, compassion, and friendship are a few nonmaterial items in that area, which are probably of some intrinsic value to the person who possesses them.
However, I also feel that it is in the sharing of these things, the "laying on of hands", as it were, which allows the value to be spread to others without loss to the "owner". Unlike precious material things which people like to investing, many of these nonmaterial things have an odd effect. Precious material things such as gold can only be traded for other things of relatively equal value, but love, respect, compassion, and friendship tend to increase in both their amount and intensity when shared.
How precious is that?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Donovan Baldwin is a 65-year-old accountant, amateur bodybuilder, freelance writer, certified optician, and Internet marketer currently living in the Atlanta, Gerogia area. A University Of West Florida alumnus (1973) with a BA in accounting, he has been a member of Mensa and has been a Program Accountant for the Florida State Department of Education, the Business Manager of a community mental health center, and a multi-county Fiscal Consultant for an educational field office. He has also been a trainer for a major international corporation, and has managed various small businesses, including his own. After retiring from the U. S. Army in 1995, with 21 years of service, he became interested in Internet marketing and developed various online businesses. He has been writing poetry, articles, and essays for over 40 years, and now frequently publishes original articles on his own websites and for use by other webmasters. He has posted a series of articles on The Law of Attraction , and other self-improvement issues at xtramoney4me.net/internetmarketing/reviews/law_of_attraction_articles/index.html .
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Top-level comments on this article: (3 total)It's very precious! I've never thought of it in that way, but it's true. When you give love away, more happens.
Not to make light of the great comments by Jennifer and Fran, but sometimes reality teaches a lesson in a small, but potent manner. The last two times I moved, I found myself getting rid of things that had followed me around for 30 years. Having to lift a lot of heavy boxes can sure make you value material possessions a whole lot less, sometimes. :)
Yes Donovan, material luxuries can make our lives more comfortable, however our heart and soul is what makes us as human beings. where love, compassion, and all virtues arrived from the inside not the outside.
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