Dear Friends,
Its seems to me, value is entirely a perception, and not reality. Sometimes we value the utile but most often we value the things we’re told are valuable. No independent thinking necessary. When we do think for ourselves, our value judgments are based on our perception, and not reality. I’ve heard it said that we don’t see things… we see utility. A rock is invisible, else it’s a hammer, knife or tripping hazard. We don’t perceive “rock” as much as the things we can do with it. The same goes for money. The utility we see in things gives value to those things. That value however, is a perception, not intrinsic to the thing perceived. This value as an idea and not reality carries into the ephemeral as well. We value relationships, beauty and the sublime… though they exist within our minds, and not the world.
If beauty was a universal, then everyone everywhere, would find the same things beautiful. Empirically that’s not the case. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder…” as they say. Since beauty is a central notion of value, we value the beautiful, and beauty itself is subject to personal differences, then clearly, the value attached to that beauty changes as well. Table salt is NaCl, all salt, on Earth as well as on Pluto. Table salt can be reduced to its components, reconstituted, and remains the same. Unlike beauty, which is subject to preference, can’t be deconstructed, and changes over time. The value we place on beauty then is person dependent. The ancient Chinese sage, Mo Ti it’s said, hated music. Yet others value music above all else. Proving value, like beauty, is a perception and not reality.
I don’t know if it’s true, that we don’t see things, we only see the utility of them… it sounds true enough but I suspect no human quality can be reduced so. Nevertheless, it’s a starting point to examine value as it relates to utility. Different people see money differently. Some see it as the be all end all, we call them misers, others see money as a means to an end, we call them entrepreneurs, then there are those who couldn’t care less about money, we call them spendthrifts. In each case the value given to money differs depending on the goals of the individual. Showing that even money, the thing so many of us believe is a “store of value,” is nothing of the sort. It’s a perception, we value in accordance with our ideas, mindsets and goals. There’s no intrinsic value in a piece of printed paper. Except as tinder.
It’s often difficult to differentiate perception from reality. Our perceptions are so tied up in our reality. Moreover, who has time and energy to burn doing so? Especially when our perceptions have so much effect on our lives. We chase money, beauty and status for the value we perceive in them. Else are told is in them. So we see value as a tangible thing. Gold is a store of value because its rare. Yet if gold became in glut, the value would go away fast. Tulip bulbs were a store of value in Denmark back in the day. Until it was discovered that the beautiful lines and streaks weren’t from genetics, but from a virus. Then the value of tulip bulbs dropped wiping out the national economy. Bitcoin’s value is perceptional as well. In every case, value is a perception… and perceptions change.
Most are too lazy to think for themselves so they let others do their thinking. Allowing someone else to determine what’s valuable. Then die unhappy and unfulfilled, after spending their lives chasing the things they’ve been told are valuable, and achieving them. Because they chased the value of others and not what they themselves valued. Perhaps we should use value as a measure of that which we should seek, instead of blindly grasping after that which we’re told to seek. Because value isn’t a universal nor is it reality. Don’t let others choose what you think is valuable. Choose for yourself. Assign value to what you want, not what your told by the experts you should want. Since value is only a perception, use value to get a good life, instead of letting value use you, striving after a bad one.
Sincerely,
John Pepin
