Stephen Downes

The whole of this newsletter is pretty interesting but especially so is the lead article. It's based on an argument from Alex Imas, What Will Be Scarce? (why wouldn't this newsletter actually link to it? I had to go search for it). The Imas argument is based on what people want as they get richer. "They want things that aren't commodities in the standard sense of the word. The social aspects of products such as the relationships, the status, and exclusivity - what Rene Girard called the mimetic properties of desire - become much more relevant once people's basic needs are satisfied." Rose Luckin, et al., convert this into a model of value based on provenance. "Education is a relational good in exactly this sense. The expensive independent school is not selling content. It is selling the teacher who knows the child, the cohort that child sits alongside, and the institution whose reputation makes that cohort meaningful." I think referencing the preferences of the rich takes us into an ethical minefield. And I think we have to sort between status symbols and genuine value. But that said, I agree, provenance matters. But not just because rich people like it.