I found this article on Smithsonian a few days ago, but it’s still pretty snazzy.
I just finished reading Terry Pratchett’s Making Money about a week or so ago, and it reminded me of the fact that a lot of the things that we hold precious, like gold and diamonds, are effectively useless. Well, that’s not really true, but we hold them precious for useless reasons.
We like gold because it’s shiny, and diamonds for their sparkle. But they also have rather more practical reasons to have worth. Gold doesn’t corrode, and is incredibly conductive, which is why it’s used in vehicle airbags. Diamonds are not only sparkly, they are one of the hardest substances on the planet, and therefore can be used to cut through softer things (i.e. everything else) where more abundant materials fail.
I like Pratchett’s idea that we should place value in work, not in shiny. Yeah, a gold watch looks neat, but a potato will keep you alive. And if you’re smart, you can use one potato to make a bunch of potatoes, but a watch is just a watch.
And there’s you some philosophy for the weekend.
Tune in tomorrow when I rant about students’ inability to follow simple instructions, and try to find some recipe for chicken that I haven’t used yet.
Oh, and thanks to Sarah for all of the awesome Steampunk ideas.
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