This is unfair to bullshit. Bullshit has intrinsic value as a fertilizer.
Diamonds Are Bullshit
581–590 of 774 posts
Re: Diamonds Are Bullshit
#582Earlier quoted context omitted.
My grandfather ran a grocery store throughout the Depression, and he accumulated a large selection of diamond rings from cash strapped customers. When my father and his brother were getting married, they had their choice of the rings. I've always wondered how other diamond rings get recycled or removed from the market. Diamonds are forever, after all, so why doesn't the price collapse from being awash in used stones…
As we found out when looking for a ring, there is (perhaps manufactured) superstitious social stigma attached to using a used engagement ring. How do you know it's not from a failed marriage? Many jewelers were confused and incredulous when we asked about one. After a certain age is reached though, the stigma seems to go away somewhat. We got a 'vintage' ring (about 100 years old) in the end - but they're hard to fin…
> Many jewelers were confused and incredulous when we asked about one.
Bear in mind that it is in the jeweller's interest to perpetuate such superstitions as it means they can persuade many customers to buy a new ring instead.
Buying a diamonds as a romantic gesture, the buyer is vulnerable for two reasons:
1) They're unlikely to have much experience of buying jewellery; for many, this is the only occasion.
2) They probably feel very strongly about the gesture; it's very important that they get it right. Overspending pales beside the risk of offending the love of their life and/or subjecting them to negative judgement by their peers.
As a result, it is all too easy for jewellers to intimidate the buyer by telling them exactly what is 'expected' and charging absurd prices for it.
Re: Diamonds Are Bullshit
#583Maybe 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.
If you want to buy some sparkly jewelry to signify engagement I highly recommend moissanite. It looks better than Diamond because it is double refractive. Also, no one will be able to tell a difference. 3 times I've taken my wife's rings to jewelery stores to have it cleaned or have a small stone replaced and every time I have to tell the Jeweler that it is moissanite. If you do tell people it is moissanite be prepared to hear "Didn't you want a 'real' stone?' or " It looks dirty " especially from Jewelers.
Re: Diamonds Are Bullshit
#584Earlier quoted context omitted.
Adoption is a great option for many couples, educated or not. I didn't say otherwise. What I said was that it's not a fully equivalent to having your own kids. Not worse, but not equivalent. If you're educated, high-IQ tiger parents and want to raise highly successful children, statistically you're better off having your own kids than adopting. This is not to say that adopted kids can't be successful or anything like…
>If you're educated, high-IQ tiger parents and want to raise highly successful children, statistically you're better off having your own kids than adopting This is the most depressing thing I read in this whole thread. The idea that one should view raising "highly successful" children as some kind of outcome they can control or influence through "high IQ tigerness" and cold economic analysis is humorous and sad all a…
It's always amusing to see the two parallel readerships of HN collide. I love a good fireworks display.
Like BBC radio 4 has a leftie, public-services-union-member audience and a rightwing traditionalist audience who are largely unaware of each other, HN has an ivy league educated randian-hero readership and a more old-school, "just give me an ounce of weed and a hex editor and I'm happy forever" readership, and both is convinced the other is intruding on their community.
Re: Diamonds Are Bullshit
#585Earlier quoted context omitted.
>A woman wants a man who is financially secure. If you can't afford a shiny rock, you can't afford what's coming after it either, so there's no point. What a quaint and gross way of looking at the world.
Except it happens to be factually, empirically true. Read the behavioral & social psychology literature; double blind experiments.
or jsut hang around with people
Re: Diamonds Are Bullshit
#586Earlier quoted context omitted.
> This is why many women will accept, at the rational level, that diamonds are horrible and stupid and even evil (since they fuel all kinds of violence in Africa, where they are mined). But most of them will not be able to bring themselves to accept substitutes such as sapphires, rubies, or emeralds. Because that would make their female friends think that the guy does not value them as much (or that they weren't able…
Wanting the respect of others in your peer group is sad now?
> Wanting the respect of others in your peer group is sad now?
Wanting superficial respect based on material things is sad.
Re: Diamonds Are Bullshit
#587Earlier quoted context omitted.
Diamonds aren't popular because they have any real value. No one actually believes they do. They cost a lot and are an easily worn, thus making them perfect for their favorite hobby: making other women feel inadequate. Even women who are positively liberal on such matters are drawn to the idea of forcing their husbands to show such monetary devotion. The issue here isn't the scarcity of diamonds. It's the scarcity if…
What makes you think women, as a whole entire gender of people, enjoy making other people feel inadequate? Perhaps if she's going to wear a ring for the rest of her life, she wants it to be a nice ring that is color neutral. Perhaps she doesn't want something cheap and easily replaceable acting as a symbol for your marriage.
> Perhaps if she's going to wear a ring for the rest of her life, she wants it to be a nice ring that is color neutral.
So CZ then? That saves money for the point below.
> Perhaps she doesn't want something cheap and easily replaceable acting as a symbol for your marriage.
You mean like having kids?
Re: Diamonds Are Bullshit
#588I'd really rather not marry the kind of woman that expected a large overpriced shiny rock on her hand so that she could show-off to her friends, which once married is then a piece of (relatively) worthless jewellery that will sit in a box until she dies and her child inherits it. Luckily the woman I chose to marry, preferred that our money would be better spent on putting a roof over our heads and paying for our chil…
What about the precious metals that go into your smartphone? Those same "bunch of scum" generally are responsible for digging that out the ground too. Love an idealist, so unpractical though.
I was specifically referring to the diamond cartel as 'scum'. You are right, and there are real practical uses for stuff that gets taken out of the earth. I see no problem with that since most uses could be considered as a net positive. Diamonds to be a "girl's best friend" though, much less so.
Re: Diamonds Are Bullshit
#589Earlier quoted context omitted.
You have to find the right woman. A bit over 23 years ago I had a wedding which - including wedding bands - was under $200. I'm still married to her. We're both glad we didn't go into debt to get married...
I was gobsmacked when I heard that people borrow money to have a wedding. I have never heard of that happening in New Zealand. How common is this? Or am I just mixing in the wrong circles?
In Thailand, people borrow money to have a wedding. But guests pay some money (+ gift) at the wedding. So you usually got enough back, if not more, to pay for the debt.
Re: Diamonds Are Bullshit
#590Earlier quoted context omitted.
Out of curiosity, I started looking at what a three-months salary engagement ring would look like if I proposed to my wife today. Man am I lucky I got married right at the end of college and we purchased the engagement ring and wedding bands together to negotiate the price down, for far less money. I can't ever imagine my wife wearing rings like that. When we bought them, the sales lady told us we "can always upgrade…
Is the price of diamonds in the U.S. really that high? I spent quite a chunk of change on an engagement ring for my fiancée, but it was closer to a week's salary. I think if I'd spent three months salary on it the rock would be so big she wouldn't be able to lift her hand. I'm making good money, but we're not exactly talking Fortune-500 CEO levels here.
For a senior developer in SF area, 3 months salary could get you a loose diamond in the 3-4 carat range off a site like bluenile.com. That's enormous for a ring. In fact, probably so large that disbelief becomes a problem: "That can't be real!"