In fact, Thiel seems to be running into the old diamonds-and-water paradox – water is essential, but costs nothing, whereas diamonds are virtually useless, but extremely expensive – albeit in a sophisticated and subtle way. The paradox exists because, in a market economy, the value of water is set not by the total usefulness of water (infinite) or by the average usefulness of water (very large), but by the marginal value of the last drop of water consumed (very low).
事实上，提尔似乎陷入了经典的钻石和水悖论——水是必需品，但几乎无成本；而钻石几乎毫无用处，却极其昂贵——只不过提尔的情形更加复杂和微妙。钻石和水悖论之所以存在，是因为在市场经济中，水的价值并不由水的总用途（无穷大）或水的平均用途（非常大）决定，而是由我们所消费的最后一滴水的边际价值（非常小）决定。