What is Value?

A distinction must be made between the noun “value”, and the verb “to value”. To value something
highly is to deem its value potential to be high. When we are making a purchase decision, for example,
this thing being speculated upon--value--is an objective effect that has yet to occur. We are guessing at
how our interaction with the item will play out in the future, according to some set of parameters. These
parameters are a standard by which we judge the effect of the item in our lives. Something has value if
its effect serves a purpose. But not just any purpose... What is the relevant purpose?

As individuals, we are participants in, but not creators of, the universe. We don't get to devise or alter
universal processes like gravity, nor do we decide the conditions which best serve thriving (ours or
anything else's). As such, we don't get to make up value. All things have an inherent nature, which is
part of a natural order. That which supports the natural order can be said to have (positive) value. If
something inhibits that order, it can be said to have negative value. Supporting this order is the
aforementioned relevant purpose.

The value of a thing is a function of its inherent properties and qualities relative to the world around it.
Relative does not mean subjective. Given the shape of a human body and the benefit of rest and comfort
to that body, a chair has inherent value potential. Whether that potential will be expressed depends on
whether, how well, and how often the chair is used over the course of its existence.

We may accurately discern that potential or not; we may allow that potential to express through usage
or not; but the value potential and the ultimate value itself is not something we get to decide based
upon our feelings or subjective speculations. We can affect expressed value by how we interact with
things, but value itself is objective and theoretically quantifiable. Believing that our subjective valuations
define value (a virtuously ubiquitous notion in economic concerns) is a critical error at best, and a
nefarious deception at worst.