Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever • Hacker News Board

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#651

Post by 55555 » Wed, May 05, 2021, 2:50 AM UTC

trapexit wrote: post #587

55555 wrote: post #483

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> - U.S. citizens living abroad in a low-tax country with a foreign spouse can engage in advantageous tax planning. Can you please, please elaborate on this?

Disclaimer: I'm not a tax advisor and this is not tax advice. It might not even be correct. Do your own research and consult an attorney about your specific situation. For entertainment purposes only and so on. U.S. citizens must pay taxes on worldwide income, regardless of what country they live in. Citizens of almost all other countries are not required to do this (they pay income taxes to the country where they li…

Thank you very much. :)

I know it took you a while to type that out but it will make a big difference in my life.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#652

Post by pyuser583 » Wed, May 05, 2021, 2:55 AM UTC

washadjeffmad wrote: post #406

joeblau wrote: post #65

Random diamond story! As a freshman in college, I took a geology class and our teacher asked all of the women in our class to raise their hand if they would rather have natural or human-made diamonds. Most of the women (over 80%) raised their hands for natural. The reasons they gave all seemed to tie back to branding and natural diamonds being “real.” Then our teacher gave another analogy. He asked if people would ra…

I went through this not that many years ago buying a ring for my SO. My biggest mistake was including her in the decision. She described what she wanted exactly– nothing gaudy or ostentatious, just a singular, tasteful stone on a plain band. Couldn't be simpler, could it? Finding stones that met her criteria was easy. Some were natural diamonds, some lab grown, many moissanite. From the outset, she said the meaning o…

There’s something about the fact that the stone on the ring spent millions of years being made and lying in the ground before being found.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#653

Post by 55555 » Wed, May 05, 2021, 2:55 AM UTC

woofcat wrote: post #505

55555 wrote: post #481

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Warren Buffet takes this even further. He doesn't spend any money on consumption, choosing instead to invest it for 21+ years. And then he keeps it invested and refuses to give it to his children. (He's giving it all to charity, though.)

Yeah, I just enjoy the logic of: "How dare you spend what at the end of the day is a trivial amount of money on something that your significant other appreciates and enjoys. You should be eating soylent green and living in a 400 square foot home!" If I were struggling to get by, it would be a fair discussion. However the audience on HN I presume to be middle class, if not upper middle class it seems like an odd argum…

People on HN are uniquely able to focus on making more money instead of saving money. But due to limiting beliefs, many don't.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#654

Post by hnfong » Wed, May 05, 2021, 2:55 AM UTC

bobthechef wrote: post #616

hnfong wrote: post #510

Earlier quoted context omitted.

When looking for a mate, animals often engage in so called "irrational" behavior to signal to the other party of their readiness and seriousness for mating. This is how, for example, peacocks get their ridiculous plumage. And thus, when somebody "irrationally" buys a "worthless" ring for a hefty amount, it signals to some extent that one is serious, committed and financially capable of the proposed marriage. It's oft…

I wanted to say you've committed the naturalistic fallacy, but actually, you've also misrepresented the meaning of mating behaviors in essential ways and made a few tacit and unwarranted jumps in between. Humans are rational animals. Yes, obviously we have natural inclinations (they aren't irrational, btw; they have a purpose and only when the inclination is disordered, deficient, excessive, or we behave in ways oppo…

In many cultures, marriage was traditionally a more convoluted affair, involving both families and there's a strong preference to marriage with a family that your family knows and trusts. The socio-economic status of prospective mates and their families are considered. There's a solemn ritual in a religious setting where all members of the community are invited to witness an oath. And thus the expensive shiny thing isn't _as_ necessary, although often expensive gifts are exchanged anyway.

These days people get married with somebody they met on Tinder for a month because "true love". The weight of a promise from a person you met for a couple weeks and from a family you've known for decades is different, which accounts for the modern inventions you despise as compensation.

I mean, I'm not saying this expensive ring thing is a desirable game to play, and I don't disagree that there are vain people out there, but the ring serves a particular purpose in the mating game of modern society, not just to satisfy some people's vanity.

(btw, if you think about it, an engagement ring isn't inherently that great for showing off. Most people put it away in a little box and wear a less conspicuous ring anyway.)

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#655

Post by pyuser583 » Wed, May 05, 2021, 2:59 AM UTC

bevesce- wrote: post #566

washadjeffmad wrote: post #406

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I went through this not that many years ago buying a ring for my SO. My biggest mistake was including her in the decision. She described what she wanted exactly– nothing gaudy or ostentatious, just a singular, tasteful stone on a plain band. Couldn't be simpler, could it? Finding stones that met her criteria was easy. Some were natural diamonds, some lab grown, many moissanite. From the outset, she said the meaning o…

Is this an American thing? I'm polish and this whole discussion is just mind boggling. I don't know anybody who would had such high (monetary wise) demands

It’s an American consumer culture thing.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#656

Post by Balgair » Wed, May 05, 2021, 3:53 AM UTC

joeblau wrote: post #65

Random diamond story! As a freshman in college, I took a geology class and our teacher asked all of the women in our class to raise their hand if they would rather have natural or human-made diamonds. Most of the women (over 80%) raised their hands for natural. The reasons they gave all seemed to tie back to branding and natural diamonds being “real.” Then our teacher gave another analogy. He asked if people would ra…

Aside:

Go to gem and mineral shows for jewelry.

They are very close to wholesale prices and as such can be up to 10x less expensive than a store, and cash purchases typically even less.

Jewelry diamonds at such event aren't the main item that people are there for though. It's the truly rare items that you find. Things like non-standard colored sapphires, gargantuan amethysts, gem rhodochrosite, fossils of dubious pedigree, meteorites, fordite, etc. Working diamonds, ones that are perfectly made and the size of your palm, can be bought and then cut down for relatively cheap. Many research labs and universities get samples at these events in 'legal' deals.

Especially near the end of the shows when vendors need to make a sale, things get pretty wild as the liquor comes out as well as the cash.

Check your local listings, ads, and billboards. It's a great Saturday activity even for the nephews and nieces.

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#657

Post by dang » Wed, May 05, 2021, 4:35 AM UTC

Kalium wrote: post #210

notyourday wrote: post #207

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Part of the significance of the gesture is the level of painful expense involved. So making the item much cheaper also cheapens the gesture. Call it what it is: diamonds are a down payment from a man to a woman for access to sex. The higher the price, the higher the value he assigns to it.

Nope. Nope nope nope nope.

Please don't perpetuate flamewars on HN. You violated the guidelines, which ask:

"Don't feed egregious comments by replying; flag them instead."

If people would follow that simple rule, hellfires would die before they spread. Please don't contribute to spreading them by feeding them. The replies do more damage than the originals, because they open the floodgates.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#658

Post by dang » Wed, May 05, 2021, 4:36 AM UTC

globular-toast wrote: post #233

Kalium wrote: post #210

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope. Nope nope nope nope.

Stunning argument.

Please don't perpetuate flamewars on HN. You also violated the guidelines, which ask:

"Don't feed egregious comments by replying; flag them instead."

If people would follow that simple rule, hellfires would die before they spread. Please don't contribute to spreading them by feeding them.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#659

Post by dang » Wed, May 05, 2021, 4:36 AM UTC

notyourday wrote: post #207

Kalium wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I find it helps to remember that diamonds are a status symbol and a form of conspicuous consumption. People often want as much of that expensive, visible status and commitment signal as they can get. Part of the significance of the gesture is the level of painful expense involved. So making the item much cheaper also cheapens the gesture.

> Part of the significance of the gesture is the level of painful expense involved. So making the item much cheaper also cheapens the gesture. Call it what it is: diamonds are a down payment from a man to a woman for access to sex. The higher the price, the higher the value he assigns to it.

If you post egregious flamebait to HN again we will ban you. You did it repeatedly today (not cool), and we've had to warn you about this before.

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

Re: Pandora says laboratory-made diamonds are forever

#660

Post by tekknik » Wed, May 05, 2021, 4:41 AM UTC

washadjeffmad wrote: post #406

joeblau wrote: post #65

Random diamond story! As a freshman in college, I took a geology class and our teacher asked all of the women in our class to raise their hand if they would rather have natural or human-made diamonds. Most of the women (over 80%) raised their hands for natural. The reasons they gave all seemed to tie back to branding and natural diamonds being “real.” Then our teacher gave another analogy. He asked if people would ra…

I went through this not that many years ago buying a ring for my SO. My biggest mistake was including her in the decision. She described what she wanted exactly– nothing gaudy or ostentatious, just a singular, tasteful stone on a plain band. Couldn't be simpler, could it? Finding stones that met her criteria was easy. Some were natural diamonds, some lab grown, many moissanite. From the outset, she said the meaning o…

> I don't know what kind of spell the diamond people cast on otherwise reasonable women to make them able to reduce the totality of a life and experiences shared together into a single crystalline bet, but they need to package it and sell it to the military.

If we can grow a perfect diamond, of seemingly any size, then finding a large, clear natural diamond is more special than buying a manufactured diamond. Then there’s the time involved, The natural process taking much more time. It’s hard for me to see why people think they are equivalent. Approaching an emotional subject with a logical mind won’t work. Yes they are the same but really they’re not.