There are items in this world that we have decided are valuable, but we don’t {often|usually| think about what value actually is. Certainly gold has a worth, right? If you put a certain level of gold onto some scales, you’ll be able to find out what it’s worth. But where does the value arise from? Is there something you can actually gain from a piece of gold beyond its value? You could place a pig on some digital scale and see that it weighs much more, and provides a real service in the form of food, yet I’d guess it’s probably better to have the bar of gold at this point in time. So what is it about the style in which we value things that discounts their actual practical value? It is logical that oil, food and water are assigned a value, but what about fashion items, metals and jewelry?

The first thing we can say that gives something like gold a worth is the fact that it is rare. When an item is wanted by people, it’s subject to the rules of supply and demand. The less something is available, the more people will be willing to spend in order to have it. The more people who desire something, the more likely a wealthier person will be willing to offer a higher amount. So the items that are worth the most are the ones which many people want, but which are extremely rare.

So in the case of gold, it has both aspects of this to its advantage. So its rareness is a naturally occurring fact, but why is it that so many of us want it? The reason is simple enough, they want it because other people want it too. There’s an interesting situation involved, like a snake biting its own tail. People want it since it’s worth something, it’s worth something since people want it. The actual practical use of gold is probably absolutely zero, except for the fact that it looks nice.

Fashion is one of the areas that affect the price of items that have no practical value. The term “perceived obsolescence,” is used to refer to the moment in which a product is seen as no longer worth anything, despite it having lost none of its capabilities. This is the function of fashion, it creates a sense of value, or lack of value, when the practical value has not changed.

What would happen if gold was out of style? This will probably not happen in our lifetimes, if ever, as the entire economy of the world is somewhat depending on the value of gold for keeping everything else going. There’s the perception that actual money is only valuable because we all decide it is, whereas gold is seen as something “really” valuable.

So if your partner doesn’t buy you enough expensive jewelry, maybe it’s for the best. The actual application of this is nil, and you’d be better off enjoying life without worrying about superficial products that are, in the real sense of the word, meaningless.

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