And as I slept on it. As in slept on the topic, I don't sleep on the ring... *woah so cold*
I was thinking...
What is real and what is not real?
Are feelings real? Is happiness real? Is unhappiness real?
Ok so we know that the ring was this marketing thingy from DeBeers.
By creating a demand to create a societal perception.
Meaning, if you don't get a ring, your husband doesn't love you, other girls would think you are cheap, whatever.
You see, I think, happiness and unhappiness are very real things. It affects our daily lives, makes living bearable/unbearable.
So if we don't buy a ring for our partners, they may REALLY feel sad, cos they think you don't love them.
They may really "lose face" and, thus, actually feel sad.
As irrational as it sounds. It's probably hard/harder for logical people to understand.
(I was having a lot of conflicting thoughts as I was thinking through this.)
Happiness and sadness are real emotions and can affect our well-being. I think we all agree on this.
Diamonds are worthless rocks with no real utility value. Also true.
Before the demand was created, no one felt they were missing anything.
AFTER the demand was created. Suddenly people started having feelings to something.
And if we go back to the first statement, feelings are real.
Cos when everyone puts a value to it, it now has "value", even though it's only perceived value.
Like Bitcoin.
Humans put symbolism to stuff. Sentimental stuff, you know, cards, notes in our drawers from our youth from past girlfriends, etc. Some of us still have them, some of us are forced to throw them out. But they are just pieces of paper. And yet it holds memories.
In this case, your ex made that piece of paper worth something more than a piece of paper. Cos it means something.
In this case, DeBeers created something out of nothing. They created a societal norm. And this makes people feel uneasy when they are not following the norm. It's not logical/rational, but that's how humans are.
So if they don't follow the norm and they feel uneasy/sad/unhappy, then not buying a ring actually has a negative influence on their lives.
Some people are more easily affected by others.
Some folks don't want the ring and are unaffected by societal norms. That's fine. So there is no negative impact on their lives if they don't get a ring.
But for those who still need/want to follow the norm, the lack of a ring really does have a real impact. Cos emotions are real. Happiness and sadness are also real.
So if my wife really really wants a ring, and she feels somewhat incomplete for the past 10 years... it has been on her mind for 10 years. That's a long time to have a nagging feeling. And if it's going to just cost a few thousand to remove that nagging feeling, why not? Cos it's probably going to be more than 10 years of negative feelings if we continue not getting her the ring.
It's like dinner without dessert. *GASP* It's just incomplete.
For some people, they are just ok without dessert, and that's fine.
For others, dessert just makes the meal all that much sweeter. It's just incomplete without it.
Logically, if we look at calories and nutrition, dessert is unnecessary.
Just trying to look at it differently today.
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