Yale psychologists George Newman and Paul Bloom, point out in their paper's introduction, the monetary value we place on artwork has everything to do with the provenance of the work and little, if anything, to do with its aesthetic properties or whether we think it’s skillfully executed.
We know history is important because understanding of who we are, it strengthens our community and regional identity and it raises appreciation of our heritage. History in a way it improves the understanding of other evolutionary and revolutionary path of societies, it fosters intellectual skills needed by a modern economy and society to operate under and to go forward.
Why is then so important to man to distinguish in between two similar art works? why we value one art work, ready to pay millions of dollar for it and we discard an exact replica, considering it worthless?
Does it matter diamond or zirconium when man buys a ring for his beloved fiance?
It appears man is enamoured with the idea of that objects take on special value because of
its origin and who had physical contact with them!
People pay considerable money for a tape measure owned by President Kennedy, an autograph by astronaut Neil Armstrong, and pop star Britney Spears’s chewed-up bubble gum! "An autographed pair of Elvis Presley's own blue suede shoes is estimated to fetch around $80.000.00" This is because they came from and the people they came into contact with and not because of their tangible properties or presumed speciality utility.
Law of Contagion state that the value things are increased substantially when the object is owned by or touched by a special person who we esteem highly. People will be outraged asking for refund if the object is not authentic though nothing perceptible or tangible about the object would have changed.
Origin matters because it is important to man.
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