4 ms·

Yes! And this is also where all the trade-hate comes from. Value is not an inherent property of a product or service, it varies for different people! I trade

by MrPatan 11y ago

Yes! And this is also where all the trade-hate comes from. Value is not an inherent property of a product or service, it varies for different people! I trade you a bag of peanuts for $5 iif I value it at less than $5 and you value it at more than $5!!!

coldtea 11y ago
In abstract yes. In practice, the reasons you value it less than $5 and they value it more than $5 are not arbitrary, but based on factual concerns and real-world conditions. Even if a crazy/fetishist/more-money-than-sense random person is OK to pay $20,000 for a bag of peanuts, the statistically important majority will not (and in fact, you'd be hard pressed to find even 1 such crazy person for such a thing). So, yes, valuations vary, but not that much. In fact the reality is closer to products having an inherent value -- only it's not based on themselves, but on the conditions (e.g. a bottle of water is worth $1 now, $1000 in a dessert, $10,000 if Marilyn Monroe once drank from it, etc). And while conditions change, they don't change that fast, or that much.
crimsonalucard 11y ago
There such thing as intrinsic value. A value separate from some idiot willing to throw down a billion dollars for a bag of peanuts.
- MrPatan 11y ago
  That bag of peanuts may have an intrinsic _cost_. But it most certainly does not have an intrinsic value. "value" may be a confusing word here. Starting from "This has a $5 value". Compare to "I value this at $5". People have moral "values" too. It's confusing. The point is that how much we value things is contextual.
  - crimsonalucard 11y ago
    "Intrinsic value" is not a term I made up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrinsic_theory_of_value https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrinsic_theory_of_value Warren Buffett built his entire BRK empire around this concept. The word "value" in some academic settings is used as a thing that is contextual and subjective, but in daily conversation, if I said the value of a bag of peanuts was a billion dollars people will think I'm crazy. Due to that fact alone, one can assume that in typical conversation, employment of the word "value" refers to "intrinsic value" rather than the "subjective value"

by MrPatan 11y ago

coldtea 11y ago

In abstract yes. In practice, the reasons you value it less than $5 and they value it more than $5 are not arbitrary, but based on factual concerns and real-world conditions. Even if a crazy/fetishist/more-money-than-sense random person is OK to pay $20,000 for a bag of peanuts, the statistically important majority will not (and in fact, you'd be hard pressed to find even 1 such crazy person for such a thing). So, yes, valuations vary, but not that much. In fact the reality is closer to products having an inherent value -- only it's not based on themselves, but on the conditions (e.g. a bottle of water is worth $1 now, $1000 in a dessert, $10,000 if Marilyn Monroe once drank from it, etc). And while conditions change, they don't change that fast, or that much.

crimsonalucard 11y ago

There such thing as intrinsic value. A value separate from some idiot willing to throw down a billion dollars for a bag of peanuts.

MrPatan 11y ago
That bag of peanuts may have an intrinsic _cost_. But it most certainly does not have an intrinsic value. "value" may be a confusing word here. Starting from "This has a $5 value". Compare to "I value this at $5". People have moral "values" too. It's confusing. The point is that how much we value things is contextual.
- crimsonalucard 11y ago
  "Intrinsic value" is not a term I made up. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrinsic_theory_of_value https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Intrinsic_theory_of_value Warren Buffett built his entire BRK empire around this concept. The word "value" in some academic settings is used as a thing that is contextual and subjective, but in daily conversation, if I said the value of a bag of peanuts was a billion dollars people will think I'm crazy. Due to that fact alone, one can assume that in typical conversation, employment of the word "value" refers to "intrinsic value" rather than the "subjective value"