Kingfisher and Value

La Viet Phuong

25-11-2025

Created by ChatGPT

One breezy afternoon, Zhuangzi and Kingfisher sit by the pond, enjoying tea while watching the gentle ripples spread across the water’s surface. After a while, Kingfisher asks:

— Master, in this world, what is ultimately the most valuable thing?

Zhuangzi takes a slow sip of tea, smiles, and replies:

— There is no such thing as "the most valuable.” Anything can be precious, and anything can become worthless.

Kingfisher frowns:

— How could that be? Isn’t a bar of gold always more valuable than a cup of plain water?

Zhuangzi asks in return:

— Then how would you price that cup of water?

Kingfisher ponders and replies:

— To get it, I would have to walk to the well, draw the water, bring it back, boil it, and pour it into the cup. Considering both effort and cost, perhaps… two cents?

Zhuangzi nods and continues:

— If I now place before you a large cup of water and a bar of gold, which would you take?

Kingfisher laughs:

— Of course, the gold! It’s worth much more!

Zhuangzi remains composed:

— And if you were lost in the vast desert, under scorching sun, burning sands, your throat parched. Someone brought you both a cup of water and a bar of gold. Then, what would you choose?

Kingfisher’s eyes light up:

— Naturally, the water! What use is gold if one dies of thirst? I understand now… Value lies in utility, in circumstance. A cup of water is still just water, but when one is thirsty, it’s worth more than gold.

Zhuangzi smiles and asks again:

— And if someone told you that just half a mile ahead there is a town by a great lake, where water is as abundant as springwater, and only two cents could buy a whole pot — would you then choose the gold or the cup of water?

Kingfisher jolts:

— If it’s that close, I would choose the gold! I could endure a little thirst and drink when I arrive!

He thinks for a moment and says:

— So value depends on supply and demand. When supply is high, it's cheap; when supply is low, it’s expensive… That must be the principle?

Zhuangzi gently shakes his head:

— If the thirsty one were not you, but a one-year-old child who understands nothing, who does not grasp the principles of supply and demand, and I let it choose between the gold and the cup of water — even telling it about the town ahead… what do you think it would choose?

Kingfisher laughs, somewhat helpless:

— Since it understands nothing, that information is meaningless to it. If thirsty, it would choose the water and might even throw the gold away.

Kingfisher sighs and scratches his head:

— How can a mere cup of water hold so many types of value… Then what is its true value?

Zhuangzi stands, stretches lightly, and flicks his sleeve as though dusting off earthly burdens. As he steps into the house, he hums:

“Value is by us,

Worthlessness too by us.

Near lies information, far lies data,

And through permeation, it comes to be.”

References

[1] Vuong QH. (2024). Wild Wise Weird. https://books.google.com/books?id=N10jEQAAQBAJ

[2] Zhuang Zhou. (1964). Zhuangzi.

[3] Nguyen MH. (2025). Kingfisherish Wandering. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0FVLLLXNW/

[4] Vuong QH, La VP, Nguyen MH. (2025). Informational entropy-based value formation: A new paradigm for a deeper understanding of value. Evaluation Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/0193841X251396210