Let's hope this fad of "natural" transparent carbon crystals die quickly, as aluminum as a rare metal did. Its extraction, transformation and distribution channels deserve to quickly die.
It is such a shame when a person's shiny rock is ever so slightly shinier than those that cost lives to dig out of dirt.
Some people will only be happy riding actual jet skis, where others will be happy riding one in a video game, which uses comparatively fewer resources. Should we outlaw or more severely regulate actual jet skis? Ditto for other activities (horse riding vs Red Dead Redemption 2 or Breath of the Wild).
Just for the record, I'd like to see everyone getting out there in the real world riding bicycles... but I'm not prepared to legislate that as the preferred outdoor activity.
And the same argument can be made for lots of things, from suborbital launches to gigantic art projects, to suburban cities vs. high-density walkable cities.
We could actually raise up everyone's living standards and have them all work less hours per week with some attitude adjustment, commonsense regulations and reorienting of our national priorities. I don't know when that's going to happen though.
I think we’re not far off from needing AI “best friends” to raise us and assist us through an increasingly complicated world.
(But if you want a book about nanotechnology, yes, it's it.)
Denying the manipulation power of marketing is just sheer folly.
By value? Other way around. This source says $1.8B in 2018. https://www.grandviewresearch.com/industry-analysis/industri...
The reason for this - the discovery of diamond mines outside the DeBeers stronghold of Southern Africa - Russia, Canada, Australia.
DeBeers used to sell their diamonds on a take it or leave it style. Cutters could take their sale price or not, but a “no” essentially put yourself out of business.
Now rough diamonds are mostly sold via auctions. There’s about an auction every 1-2 weeks across all the miners, so there’s always an opportunity for cutters to buy supply, and prices are out in the public.
As an aside, I've noticed that circle of people who love chiming in about diamonds tends to paradoxically overlap with the circle of people who think crypto is awesome despite the "vibe" of the two being extremely similar.
I've found it best to just let them rage against their chosen machine.
DeBeers was a monopoly that wouldn't die for 90 years longer than this upstart myth has existed. Compare to Christmas, come back and comment in 2000 years, and we'll just see if it's really "a myth that won't die." I doubt it'll make it past 2030. You should really be more cautious declaring an eternal myth so prematurely.
Prior to a particularly successful de beers advertising campaign diamonds were not all that associated with wedding rings. now, it is most often the expected thing.
https://www.jaredvandermeer.com/3-reasons-the-de-beers-a-dia...
Why? Have any reasons for your belief? There’s a reason diamonds are expensive and it’s not “artificial scarcity” as the uneducated people here like to claim. It’s because people want the diamonds and are willing to pay the expensive prices!