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What Has More Intrinsic Value: Immense Wealth or Great Health?

What Has More Intrinsic Value: Immense Wealth or Great Health?

Determining Values of Things: The Concept of Intrinsic Value Should Provide Help

What holds more worth—immense wealth or great health? Discover hidden layers of 'value' leading to the ultimate question: What has the most intrinsic value?

Some things are easy to quantify, like the prices of milk and bread we buy daily. Others, like health and emotional well-being, are intangible but indispensable. So how do we measure the immeasurable?

More importantly, how do we determine intrinsic value—the kind of worth that persists beyond perception? To understand the different forms of value, let’s take the simplest example: one of humanity’s most enduring symbols of worth—gold.

The Universal Example of Gold

What is the one THING that should come to mind for most humans when asked about worth?

To get to a simple answer, let us ignore the most valuable things such as life or health. I am alive and kicking, which inherently implies I plan to live eternally with my ever-kicking health.

Now, the board is all white, clear of distractions like mental health, and starting to glow.

Yes, of course. It is gold.

What has most intrinsic value, gold?

What Is the Worth of Gold?

It’s easy to come down to earth with what I call extended common sense. Who doesn’t know that in bad times, the only way to protect your wealth is to hoard gold? For aeons, monarchs, kings, emperors, temples, robbers, and looters have all done that. Why? Why has this extreme perception of gold’s high value remained alive throughout human history?

Without diving into endless questions branching from the main stem, let me quickly cover the worth of gold.

The value of gold lies in its undying ability to grow its perceived value not just over centuries but since the dawn of civilization, when humans settled on cultivating lands and began understanding the meaning of wealth.

One thing follows another: first, discover cultivation; then settle in groups, grow in numbers, and accumulate what you think is valuable—be it for hard times or to flaunt power and riches.

Summing up, the general worth of gold lies in the perception of all humanity that its value will always increase throughout eternity.

Perception and Reality

The general worth of gold lies in its perceived value in the human mind, not its actual practical value.

It’s all in the mind. The only thing that strengthens this perception is:

All past experiences support the belief that the value of gold will keep increasing over time.

This perception, strengthened by past experiences, evolves into something as significant as truth.

gold price trend from-1964 to 12th January 2025

A Greater Truth and Its Time Span

Here’s a secret: I learned this truth through my escapades into the turbulent share market.

The greater truth, as invariably repeated by any small-time or guru-level stock market advisor, is:

Past experiences may not be a true indicator of what will happen in the future. Do your due diligence before investing.

Why do I call this a greater truth? Because nothing whatsoever can escape this truth. Inviolable natural laws, such as "what goes up must come down" or "what is born must die," govern everything.

Profound, isn’t it?

Can gold escape this greater truth? A tricky question. But the answer is only one: No, it cannot. The greatest laws—the natural laws—govern the behavior of all things, human and non-human.

Still, we take comfort in the fact that natural cycles span thousands, if not millions of years—far longer than our short human lifetime.

Thus, we common folks remain steadfast in the belief that gold’s value will always go on increasing.

Deeper Into the Nature of Values

Now it’s time to delve into the nature of values.

  • Present Value in Terms of Currency: Gold’s price fluctuates daily, but it’s well-defined and specific.
  • Perceived Value: Shared beliefs about gold’s eternal rise in value.
  • Inherent Value and Intrinsic Value: These terms introduce the real puzzle.

Who knew such an innocuous term as "value" held within it a veritable Pandora’s box?

The Paradox of Value

The paradox lies in this fact: the actual value of gold, diamonds, or many other things depends entirely on their perceived values. Only a rare few such as gold retain their perceived value over exceptionally long periods.

Remove the perception that lacks practical support, and the whole facade crumbles into rubble.

This brings us to the tricky term "inherent worth" or "intrinsic value." I happily pilfered this latter term from my stock trading experience, where stocks were evaluated by their intrinsic value using math formulas quite alien to me. Yet the beauty of the term captivated me.

At this point, I leave you with these questions:

  • Why should you waste your valuable time thinking about the outlandish concept of intrinsic value?
  • Or, if you’re curious and have time, how would you define intrinsic value in the first place?

To keep your mind at peace, I must admit: I don’t know the answer. Let us think together and discuss it later, okay?

Meanwhile, let’s live merrily and be happy.

To be continued...