In your opinion, are flashlights intrinsically valuable?

Meaning valuable in and itself.

something is only intristically valuable if it has the ability to think enough to assign itself value...otherwise it its' value was assigned by another source(ex:flashaholic)

I think they are intriniscally valuable to the degree of their function and utility, and not beyond that. Like a fork is "valuable", so I said no.

Except to those of us who are addicted to them as toys, of course. We value them higher than their intrinsic value.

I'm not sure what you mean--is a fancy Swiss watch intrinsically valuable? How about a 1kg gold ingot?

Something like a M@glite, or even a Surefire, no. But a modded light, or a custom light, yes. Even in something as mundane as an illumination tool can be a work of art or have special meaning. If I were to make or mod a light of my own, it'd be a testiment of achievment as much as a tool. Or, with something like my McLux PD, someone else achievement which I can appreciate.

I guess it comes down to how you interpret "intrinsically", going by the dictionary definition;

Of or relating to the essential nature of a thing; inherent.

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I consider the 'practical' essential nature of a lighting instrument, it's ability to allow us to see when otherwise we wouldn't be able to, of great value.

If 'essential nature' refers to more esoteric things then I guess the answer could well be no.

Andrew

i saw the longest answer there and i clicked on it.

I think flashlights are intrinsically valuable to "man" because they grant an ability that we do not otherwise posess- the creation of light. Some can do this in virtually any environmental condition and do not require potentially dangerous techniques (fire) to do so. It is almost like possesing a "magic" power since without a flashlight, man has no bodily way to make light on his own.

That said, flashlights are no more intrinsically valuable (and probably less so) than the invention of standard fixed lighting technology (edison lightbulbs, flourecents, etc), which lifted man out of the "dark ages" so to speak and enabled us to easily carry on our buisness for twice as many hours in the day.

are flashlights intrinsically valuable?

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Depends on the quality of dark.

-LT

Batteries are intrinsically valuable to flashlights... Right?

-Bill

nerdgineer said:

I think they are intriniscally valuable to the degree of their function and utility, and not beyond that. Like a fork is "valuable", so I said no.

Except to those of us who are addicted to them as toys, of course. We value them higher than their intrinsic value.

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Exactly!

BB said:

Batteries are intrinsically valuable to flashlights... Right?

-Bill

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and money is intrinsically valuable to both lights and batteries.

Intrinsic value would be the cost of raw materials, refining, transportation, etc.,etc. and the labor necessary to produce the end result, but usefulness expands the value of any object. Whether that can be termed intrinsic value is open to debate,but I think so.

In the narrowest sense, the "intrinsic value" of a human being is the cost of the "building blocks" we are made up of. Probably worth less than $5 on the market.

BUT! Let's not forget to include the "labor" to manufacture the person!

A flashlight's value (utility) is far beyond the collection of metal, glass and plastic that make it up. And a human being's value, unlike the inanimate object's, depends entirely on the individual and the way they choose to live their life.