Christopher Columbus thought he was such a genius and all. Went and found India, didn't he? He also got little nuggets of gold off people's noses for glass beads. Must've been one helluva bargain, huh?
In our understanding of the world, gold is (at the rate of Rs. 2245/gram as of today) definitely precious. It has more value than any number of glass beads or hawk bells. But "value" here, is a very tricky word. How do you decide the value of a particular object? What makes it more or less precious than something else? Is there an absolute value for a physical material?
If you have given a little thought to these questions, you should know by now that everything works relatively.
The Native Americans attached more value to food and to the land that they lived on. They didn't perceive gold like the Spaniards did. So, they easily gave away what was on their noses as if it was something that came from inside their noses instead. Clever Mr. Columbus gave away his glass beads with just that much sense of loss. It is interesting to see how each party drools over what's on the other side of the grass.
The great, educated Europeans knew gold wasn't as abundant as oxygen. The rarity of the metal made them desperate for it- just like the typical lover who pines for the woman he will never have. We ALL want things we don't already have. Law of nature.
The Native Americans, on the other hand, were probably picking gold out of mud. It's hard to imagine them digging big holes in the earth they love so much, to mine all that gold that they don't love at all. They were so fascinated by the glass beads that they probably forgot to see the "Made in China, Sold in National Market" stamp on it. You get the picture. Anything new is also catchy.
So, it all boils down to- We always treasure things that we have least. Which brings me to this question- If we have a lot of something, is it not worth treasuring?
Is your girlfriend's love not worth treasuring just because you've known her far too long and you've used those three words far too much?
Is your mum's cooking not worth treasuring just because you have it everyday and rarely have to eat out like the other PG people?
Is oxygen not worth treasuring just because we still haven't cut down all the trees that still produce them?
I won't say the same about petrol, though. We are ALL aware that it costs 72 bucks a litre! *OUCH*
So, essentially, if aliens came to us to trade extra-terrestrial knowledge (that we're dying to gain) or some weird coloured stone (that you think might appease your storming girlfriend), in exchange for one cylinder of oxygen per head, we may foolishly give it. And then what? Asphyxiate?
I don't think I'd be right to say that the Native Americans asphyxiated because they gave and took stuff from the Europeans, but they did decline somewhere.
Which brings me to the moral of my story: Treasure EVERYTHING you have. Whether it is the hush-hush set of expensive diamonds your mum bought for "your future" or the plastic pen-cap that you so easily misplace. That definitely helped Clever Columbus. He probably brought his golis to play on the ship... And just because he did that, he got like- a huge chunk of land... And a place in the Am Lit Text book... And a jobless female giving him the "clever" tag. Pah!
In our understanding of the world, gold is (at the rate of Rs. 2245/gram as of today) definitely precious. It has more value than any number of glass beads or hawk bells. But "value" here, is a very tricky word. How do you decide the value of a particular object? What makes it more or less precious than something else? Is there an absolute value for a physical material?
If you have given a little thought to these questions, you should know by now that everything works relatively.
The Native Americans attached more value to food and to the land that they lived on. They didn't perceive gold like the Spaniards did. So, they easily gave away what was on their noses as if it was something that came from inside their noses instead. Clever Mr. Columbus gave away his glass beads with just that much sense of loss. It is interesting to see how each party drools over what's on the other side of the grass.
The great, educated Europeans knew gold wasn't as abundant as oxygen. The rarity of the metal made them desperate for it- just like the typical lover who pines for the woman he will never have. We ALL want things we don't already have. Law of nature.
The Native Americans, on the other hand, were probably picking gold out of mud. It's hard to imagine them digging big holes in the earth they love so much, to mine all that gold that they don't love at all. They were so fascinated by the glass beads that they probably forgot to see the "Made in China, Sold in National Market" stamp on it. You get the picture. Anything new is also catchy.
So, it all boils down to- We always treasure things that we have least. Which brings me to this question- If we have a lot of something, is it not worth treasuring?
Is your girlfriend's love not worth treasuring just because you've known her far too long and you've used those three words far too much?
Is your mum's cooking not worth treasuring just because you have it everyday and rarely have to eat out like the other PG people?
Is oxygen not worth treasuring just because we still haven't cut down all the trees that still produce them?
I won't say the same about petrol, though. We are ALL aware that it costs 72 bucks a litre! *OUCH*
So, essentially, if aliens came to us to trade extra-terrestrial knowledge (that we're dying to gain) or some weird coloured stone (that you think might appease your storming girlfriend), in exchange for one cylinder of oxygen per head, we may foolishly give it. And then what? Asphyxiate?
I don't think I'd be right to say that the Native Americans asphyxiated because they gave and took stuff from the Europeans, but they did decline somewhere.
Which brings me to the moral of my story: Treasure EVERYTHING you have. Whether it is the hush-hush set of expensive diamonds your mum bought for "your future" or the plastic pen-cap that you so easily misplace. That definitely helped Clever Columbus. He probably brought his golis to play on the ship... And just because he did that, he got like- a huge chunk of land... And a place in the Am Lit Text book... And a jobless female giving him the "clever" tag. Pah!
-> Shobana ma'am would be exceedingly happy to see a blog dedicated to her and her teachings[:D] and I think you should send her the link.
ReplyDelete-> Our photoshop lessons come in handy when we create our blogs - plastic wrap the picture and make it look mysterious.
-> I like the way you have related present situations to columbus' period. No it's the other way around.
-> Like we are dying to gain "ET" knowledge...so were they I guess. C'mon be nice to them!
-> I also like the touch of humour =)
-> just vrooooom vrooom bikegrrrl