[joegibbs]

But how much of the price of gold is its intrinsic worth? A fake gold ring made of some alloy can look and feel almost exactly the same as a real one, but as soon as you find out that it isn't real gold it suddenly loses 99% of its value - maybe it's not magnetic or it is slightly the wrong shade, but the value of gold isn't assigned for not reacting to magnets.

Only 11% of gold is for industrial purposes, so I think that if the thousands of years of cultural association of gold with wealth suddenly disappeared and people decided it was a bad investment, then it would be basically worthless.

[ur-whale]

> its intrinsic worth

There is no such thing as "instrinsic worth".

There's only supply and demand.

Why there is demand for a certain good is a many-colored and complicated affair.

[Nathanba]

there is intrinsic in the context of where we are as humans, that's why saying that there is intrinsic worth is correct. Humans need to eat, intrinsically. I guess partially it depends on whether the word 'intrinsic' still applies.

[BlueTemplar]

Using that definition, air too has intrinsic worth.

But I'm skeptical about the usefulness of this definition.

[Nathanba]

it's the only useful definition because what else would ever be useful just for its own sake? There has to be a reference point and the moment you have one, it's technically not intrinsic anymore. So we can't do that.

[BlueTemplar]

It's not because a word exists that it makes sense to use it.

The (scientific) word æther exists too, but you would only use it in a historical context.