ON THE REAL VALUE OF THINGS

(This story is an excerpt from my book: Looking for happiness? Look inside)
Material possessions can never bring us lasting happiness. The more we have, the more we want, and any material possession that we mistake for our happiness simply creates in us the fear of losing it.
No object has "objective" value; the value of things exists only in our heads. Gold or diamonds have no more value than exactly what someone is ready to pay for them. If suddenly most people decided that gold and diamonds were worthless, they would totally lose their value. And, let's be honest: except gemologists and other experts, most mortals are unable to tell cubic zirconia from real diamonds - value is a creation of the mind. Furthermore, the only "quality" of such minerals is their relative scarcity. If someone could produce low-cost gold and diamonds in a laboratory, then their value would be equal to that of any mineral available in abundance, such as iron or copper...