61–70 of 774 posts
DeBeer's wins. Either you get over it, or you end up heartbroken or with a very grumpy fiance.
Maybe I'm spoiled as a nerdy (and interested in nerdy) gay guy, but I pity those in this thread saying that their fiancee wouldn't listen to reason about this. It slays me that "tradition" is so important to people that they will waste such vast amounts of money and prop up such a gross, violent industry in the face of reason.
My sister is still mad as hell at her husband for not having spent enough for their wedding (he spent about $25k), and I've heard her once or twice complain about the ring. I'll occasionally take shots at my sister for this (because, well, she's my sister and she loves taking shots at me too so it's fair). But my God I don't dare challenge the issue of spending extravagantly on rings/weddings with another woman (I on…
Emotion is all in your head after all. :-)
There are plenty of diamond exchanges online. You buy the diamond and the setting separately, and then bring them to any jeweler to set it.
Also, you can buy moissanite instead - it's cheaper and hard to tell apart. Much better quality than cubic zirconia.
Because of a stupid patent you can't buy pre-made moissanite jewelery, instead you buy the stone and the setting separately.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The carbon is a proxy (which is missed in the article, among other things.) It's social signaling. Or to put it another way: How many $$ can your man throw away without incurring pauperhood?
Like coloured feathers on a bird. Could you imagine if the story was just slightly changed: "Let's admit that women buying sports cars for their fiancé-to-be is bullshit." Hmmmm... Now I want a Z4 Zagato. But in all seriousness this would have ended in the 70s when feminist protests started.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
The carbon is a proxy (which is missed in the article, among other things.) It's social signaling. Or to put it another way: How many $$ can your man throw away without incurring pauperhood?
Like coloured feathers on a bird. Could you imagine if the story was just slightly changed: "Let's admit that women buying sports cars for their fiancé-to-be is bullshit." Hmmmm... Now I want a Z4 Zagato. But in all seriousness this would have ended in the 70s when feminist protests started.
I started dating in the 70s: I thought it was a period of bizarre contrasts.
But then as time went by, I realized dating has been bizarre since the time we were all living in caves.
Maybe I'm spoiled as a nerdy (and interested in nerdy) gay guy, but I pity those in this thread saying that their fiancee wouldn't listen to reason about this. It slays me that "tradition" is so important to people that they will waste such vast amounts of money and prop up such a gross, violent industry in the face of reason.
Nobody does it "for the sake of tradition". It is a web of expectations where the cost of bucking the expectations is great enough that buckling often is the more attractive option. It is also a well-entrenched example of costly signaling [1] in humans [2] (For the lazy, costly signaling basically says, a costly empty gesture is a strong indicator of mate quality, because only a high-quality mate can afford to waste…
Maybe I'm spoiled as a nerdy (and interested in nerdy) gay guy, but I pity those in this thread saying that their fiancee wouldn't listen to reason about this. It slays me that "tradition" is so important to people that they will waste such vast amounts of money and prop up such a gross, violent industry in the face of reason.
Having an understanding with my partner that we're willing to indulge each others irrational, socialized preferences does have its upsides.
http://news.walmart.com/news-archive/2013/02/04/walmart-surv...
(Disclaimer: I work on the tool they used to conduct the survey, which is why I know about it.)
Maybe I'm spoiled as a nerdy (and interested in nerdy) gay guy, but I pity those in this thread saying that their fiancee wouldn't listen to reason about this. It slays me that "tradition" is so important to people that they will waste such vast amounts of money and prop up such a gross, violent industry in the face of reason.
Nobody does it "for the sake of tradition". It is a web of expectations where the cost of bucking the expectations is great enough that buckling often is the more attractive option. It is also a well-entrenched example of costly signaling [1] in humans [2] (For the lazy, costly signaling basically says, a costly empty gesture is a strong indicator of mate quality, because only a high-quality mate can afford to waste…
toh-may-toh/toh-mah-toh
That's the kind of thing I think is a good idea.