wood for sheep?

    • Tak@lemmy.ml
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      10 months ago

      Gold isn’t terribly useful as a metal. Sure it’s valuable but mostly because people see it as valuable and perceptions can change.

      Everyone needs a place to live and on top of that land can be used for making money even if land itself isn’t as lucrative.

      • gimsy@feddit.it
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        10 months ago

        The same can be said for banknotes, they are quite useless as paper, they are mostly valuable because people see them as valuable and perceptions can change

      • droans@lemmy.world
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        10 months ago

        Yes and no.

        Gold has been used as a currency historically for many reasons. It’s inert. It has a low melting point. It’s malleable and easily divisible. It doesn’t tarnish. A piece of gold from 2,000 years ago will be the same weight today as it was then. It also is attractive, which gives it value for jewelry. And, importantly, it’s predictably rare and can be mined.

        Today, it’s also valuable for electronics. Its inability to tarnish makes it fantastic if you need a connection to be corrosion resistant.

        There’s a reason gold still holds its value even though it’s not used for currency anymore.

        • CucumberFetish@lemm.ee
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          10 months ago

          Gold’s value isn’t tied to its usefulness. Based on statista, less than 7% of global gold use is for “technology”. The rest of it goes to jewellery, investments and banks.

      • Johanno@feddit.de
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        10 months ago

        If they produce mass H2 burning cells gold and platinum will rise in price drastically

        • Tak@lemmy.ml
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          10 months ago

          I doubt fuel cells will take off in mass because of many reasons but mostly because H2 is so damn hard to store. Ultimately fuel cells are a tech for electrical storage and at one point they felt logical but as technology improves they begin to have more troubles. Storing hydrogen is just so damn difficult and it needs to be compressed to reach density for mobile applications.