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"Gold is not useful" Gold is useful. Good thermal conductivity and low chemical reactivity with many corrosive compounds. Using it for money and decoration is
by delibes 11y ago
"Gold is not useful"
Gold is useful. Good thermal conductivity and low chemical reactivity with many corrosive compounds.
Using it for money and decoration is perhaps the least sensible thing.
- snowwrestler 11y agoToday that's true, but if we go back and look at the origins of gold in human society, the question is really, why did gold become so desirable vs. any other substance ancient humans observed. 1) The low chemical reactivity means it doesn't tarnish or break down. This is a BIG one for jewelry--a gold ring still looks bright and shiny 50 years later, unlike other metals, shells, bone, or pieces of wood, dyes, paint, etc. 2) It's continuously divisible into any amounts. You can easily chop a ring in half and sell half of it, if you only want to barter with a portion of your gold.
- meric 11y agoI'm not sure I'd like a coin that has high chemical reactivity. They got that part right.
- dsmithatx 11y agoWhile it is useful, I think that wasn't what the author meant. There is actually very tiny amounts of gold used in manufacturing etc. Compared to iron and other metals gold isn't used much is probably more what was meant. Gold is actually mostly used for money, decoration, and collecting which is what drives the price to such high levels. I agree it isn't all that sensible when you try to make sense of it.
- kcl 11y agoWe all know that gold has industrial uses. But those won't appear for thousands of years. Mentioning that you can use gold in integrated circuits does nothing to explain gold in the Stone Age.
- delibes 11y agoFair point. So, I look forward to the follow ups :) If it's just the pretty, shiny stuff that makes it valuable, then gold will always have some value (bar nuclear synthesis and Star Trek replicators). If it's scarcity, then there's market manipulation and alternative artificial currency a la Bitcoin.
- philipov 11y agoThe fact that gold doesn't corrode explains why it is used for money and decoration. You don't want your decorations to tarnish, and you don't want your currency to degrade over time. When it comes to resisting time, you just can't beat gold.
- Turing_Machine 11y agoHmm... I think if gold had been cheap enough, the ancients would have used it for some practical purposes. Cooking and drinking vessels that didn't corrode, for instance. Also plating on iron and steel items to keep them from corroding (non-electro gold plating has been known since ancient times). Several others come to mind.