Why do humans nearly universally desire gold? This desire is

It doesn't tarnish and it's cool looking.

This isn't really /sci/, but I'd be interested in knowing why so many cultures independently developed to have gold based economies.

>>8969307
The Egyptians called it the divine metal, believing that the sun god embued it with it's color.

I always thought the idea spread through trade, but that doesn't make sense for civs like the Aztecs, does it?

>>8969307

It was the first metal to be worked, because it can be found in it's elemental form and doesn't corrode. It shines like the sun and it's strangely heavy, not hard to see why it was considered spooky.

>>8969308
This, plus its malleable

>>8969307
1. It's shiny.
2. It's rare, but not too rare like aluminum back then.
3. It never rusts.

Although the Chinese preferred silver over gold.

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>>8969307
Because we're all descended from kangz

>>8969307
Huh. Dunno. I'm a silver fan.

so you dont know why people attached value to rare metals and precious stones?

Electro magnetic stability, that's why it's hoarded..it's in all your transistors

>>8969376
Aztecs actually rated more Jade, and Quetzal feathers more than gold.

Is like this anon says>>8969393 , it looks good, and it's more convenient as a exchange method than a lot of other materials.

I barely know anyone that desires gold irl. Do you live in Middle Earth ?

>>8969307
It's highly malleable

>>8969540
We'll the aztecs were fucking retards

>>8969307
Humans don't universally desire gold. Please post sources next time.

Aliens used us to mine it for them at the dawn of civilization and the conditioning stuck.

>>8969307
Apes like bling-bling. I hate this species.

>>8969307
Because it is rare but easily extractable, reusable and can be split into arbitrary sizes.

It basically is the perfect medium of exchange.