Why is gold so important to the human race?

Besides being a great conductor of electricity, its just a metal like any other... I find it funny that the closer we get to this whole 2012 thing, the more and more there are commercials on TV begging you for your gold... I have some very odd theorys about where humans came from and stuff like that, so i tend to believe that Gold has some sort of value beyond what we are aware of.. Like its some sort of fule or something... anyone else ever think about this?