Saturday, July 2, 2011

What's in a Shoe?

It fascinates me. Cars are legitimately impressive machines that allow us to do so much more than we ever could before. People value them. They're valuable. I think any culture that had the opportunity to have them, would see their value and be on board.

On the other hand we have a pair of beautifully designed shoes. They've had shoes for centuries, millennia really. Sure they're helpful, but not on anywhere close to the same scale as a car, but nonetheless, we live in a culture that says cool shoes are important, valuable, and not because they help you do more, just because they're cool! Who said they're cool? Who knows, doesn't matter. I've gotta get me those. I'll pay $5 to get some functionality, but I'll pay $80 to get me some cool. Ask someone from a tribe in the Amazon, and they won't be able to tell you if the $5 shoes or the $80 one is more valuable, it's all the same. The value doesn't come from it's function like a car's does. It's purely assigned by our opinions.

That fascinates me. That's all.

2 comments:

Andrea said...

so do you think this is a good thing, bad thing, or neutral? Are you going to buy your kids the coolest shoes all the time? Just curious =)

R N W said...

when I say fascinating, I usually mean undecided, and I've thought about it some more and still haven't gotten anywhere.