the symbol for the thing

Ultimately, people come together not because of the results of what they care about, but because of the caring itself. This I find confusing because the result is just a byproduct, a happening, an experience. It is the outward extension of the inner connection. And like so much else, I confuse the symbol for the thing. 

The symbol confirms the thing's existence, but isn't that just because we've decided the outer life is more "real" than the inner life? That the "stuff" of reality is reality itself?

Actually, this is the entire psychology of consumerism and marketing. Marketing appeals to our valuing distant associations, but we become conditioned to see the value and it’s placeholder as interchangeable. 

But what else? I’m sure I could do a whole rant about internet experiences, but that seems like a surface example. The deeper question is what else do we hold up as important when all it is is a symbol of the truth?