Comments on: Ending the Stone Age http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/ se wo were fi na wosan kofa a yenki Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:57:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: raku http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/#comment-34096 raku Mon, 11 Dec 2006 15:50:31 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/#comment-34096 I sometimes wondered about what I would do were I ever in the circumstance of having one of those ring-in-hand, middle-of-a-very-public-place-with-everyone-watching marriage proposals sprung on me. I don't wear rings, so spending a truckload of cash on a beautiful bauble for my benefit would be completely wasted. I don't wear any jewelry, really, as it inevitably gets lost, destroyed, left in a taxi, or stashed in the bottom drawer of a dresser. And I don't do well with snap decisions, either. I'm the hem-and-haw indecisive type. So being forced into a decision by way of an expensively useless piece of jewelry would pretty much mean that the proposer didn't know much about me, or if he did, was more interested in following arbitrary materialistic cultural norms than in our relationship. In which case, the answer would be a big fat NO. I sometimes wondered about what I would do were I ever in the circumstance of having one of those ring-in-hand, middle-of-a-very-public-place-with-everyone-watching marriage proposals sprung on me. I don’t wear rings, so spending a truckload of cash on a beautiful bauble for my benefit would be completely wasted. I don’t wear any jewelry, really, as it inevitably gets lost, destroyed, left in a taxi, or stashed in the bottom drawer of a dresser. And I don’t do well with snap decisions, either. I’m the hem-and-haw indecisive type. So being forced into a decision by way of an expensively useless piece of jewelry would pretty much mean that the proposer didn’t know much about me, or if he did, was more interested in following arbitrary materialistic cultural norms than in our relationship. In which case, the answer would be a big fat NO.

]]> By: Giulianna Lamanna http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/#comment-33704 Giulianna Lamanna Sun, 10 Dec 2006 06:11:26 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/#comment-33704 <blockquote>I never understood the appeal of diamonds either. I'd much rather have an engagement prehistoric-spider-trapped-in-amber.</blockquote> If I were ever to get a stone ring, which I probably wouldn't since they're kind of unwieldy, the stone would totally be opal. I love opals! Might get an opal necklace, come to think of it... necklaces don't usually get in the way the same way that rings do. Although there's probably something horribly unethical about opal mining that I just don't know about yet.

I never understood the appeal of diamonds either. I’d much rather have an engagement prehistoric-spider-trapped-in-amber.

If I were ever to get a stone ring, which I probably wouldn’t since they’re kind of unwieldy, the stone would totally be opal. I love opals!

Might get an opal necklace, come to think of it… necklaces don’t usually get in the way the same way that rings do. Although there’s probably something horribly unethical about opal mining that I just don’t know about yet.

]]> By: Paula http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/#comment-33420 Paula Sat, 09 Dec 2006 16:27:38 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/#comment-33420 I never understood the appeal of diamonds either. I'd much rather have an engagement prehistoric-spider-trapped-in-amber. FWIW, there are some very nice CZ+surgical steel wedding-type rings to be found out there. My stepbrother and his wife went that route for their wedding, although their reasoning had more to do with being broke than with being conscious. My sister-in-law's ring is similar to this one: http://tinyurl.com/yc4lzx I never understood the appeal of diamonds either. I’d much rather have an engagement prehistoric-spider-trapped-in-amber.

FWIW, there are some very nice CZ+surgical steel wedding-type rings to be found out there. My stepbrother and his wife went that route for their wedding, although their reasoning had more to do with being broke than with being conscious.

My sister-in-law’s ring is similar to this one:
http://tinyurl.com/yc4lzx

]]> By: Jason Godesky http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/#comment-33361 Jason Godesky Sat, 09 Dec 2006 14:42:57 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/#comment-33361 To be fair, Eric, we <em>all</em> feel the social pressure, even for invented traditions. Even Giuli has been subjected to a certain amount of shame by strangers because she didn't have a diamond. There's a "herd effect" for this kind of thing just as in immunology. Which is why it's so important to stand against it—because that means it's also the kind of thing that tips. To be fair, Eric, we all feel the social pressure, even for invented traditions. Even Giuli has been subjected to a certain amount of shame by strangers because she didn’t have a diamond. There’s a “herd effect” for this kind of thing just as in immunology. Which is why it’s so important to stand against it—because that means it’s also the kind of thing that tips.

]]> By: Eric http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/#comment-33309 Eric Sat, 09 Dec 2006 09:35:30 +0000 http://anthropik.com/2006/12/ending-the-stone-age/#comment-33309 Nice essay. People need to know all this stuff. Diamonds in particular are a fantastic example of how many of our 'traditions' are completely and utterly bogus. A rock with zero association with marriage until De Beers marketing thought it up in the thirties ... (if I remember rightly...) Sadly though knowing this doesn't make any difference to most people. 'Traditions' could be the invention of EvilCorp Inc. and all of five minutes old, and both facts could be widely known, but for many it's enough that 'that's the way everyone else is doing it!' And the idea will never take off in Asia, where the ersatz Western wedding is now mandatory, and the bigger the ring, the better. Anyway, I'm off to check out the links you've given. Thanks. Nice essay. People need to know all this stuff. Diamonds in particular are a fantastic example of how many of our ‘traditions’ are completely and utterly bogus. A rock with zero association with marriage until De Beers marketing thought it up in the thirties … (if I remember rightly…)

Sadly though knowing this doesn’t make any difference to most people. ‘Traditions’ could be the invention of EvilCorp Inc. and all of five minutes old, and both facts could be widely known, but for many it’s enough that ‘that’s the way everyone else is doing it!’ And the idea will never take off in Asia, where the ersatz Western wedding is now mandatory, and the bigger the ring, the better.

Anyway, I’m off to check out the links you’ve given. Thanks.

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