Re:Ending Bitcoin Support
by rootusrootus on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @03:50PM
(#16217560)
IIRC pyrite does not possess the important qualities of gold aside from sort of looking like it. For example, you can't make it into a chain like you can with gold. For jewelry you're limited mostly to using it as a rock.
Re:Ending Bitcoin Support
by dragonwriter on Tuesday January 23, 2018 @05:59PM
(#16218713)
> but what about pyrite? It has most of the aesthetic properties of gold
Not really. Pyrite has a vaguely similar color to gold and flakes of it can be easily be visually mistaken for gold in certain contexts, it doesn't generally closely resemble gold, even cosmetically.
I guess what I am trying to say is that there is a lot more that goes into value than utility. That's why I do not think that people always act rationally. Clearly there is something irrational about people's relationship with gold that makes it valuable. I don't see why crypto cannot have a similar irrational evaluation. Sure, it could go "poof" tomorrow, but I don't know if that will stop people from seeing it as valuable.