When investing in a market where asset trading is ongoing, persistent, and prices are constantly fluctuating, the most important factor is the perception and attitude toward “time.” Here, time refers to a defined “period,” a concept that encompasses the “past,” “present,” and “future.” Knowing the future can make us wealthy. All we know is the “past,” but in reality, even the past is often not fully understood. That is, we must admit we lack complete knowledge about the past, present, or future. In this state, we must conduct business and invest. The attitude toward business and investing is to focus on judging the “trend” by applying the concepts of differential and integral calculus simultaneously. Differential weather (e.g., morning and afternoon of a day) is easy to predict, but long-term future weather cannot be forecasted even by supercomputers. However, by accumulating knowledge of the past and analyzing it integrally, it is possible to predict the trend of the distant future to...
One reason for the Dutch’s wealth was the strong trust between the merchants and sailors responsible for trade. Captain Willem Barentsz failed in 1596 while attempting to open a northeast route to the Far East via Novaya Zemlya in the Arctic Ocean. An accident occurred in which 8 out of 18 sailors died after being trapped in glaciers at temperatures of -40 degrees for 8 months, marking a setback for the development of a new maritime route. However, the captain and crew did not disturb the cargo, and on June 13, 1597, they split into two small ships and escaped the glacier. Fifty days later, they were rescued by a Russian merchant ship. Captain Barentsz died on the journey home, but the crew returned the consigned cargo to its owners intact after getting home. Trust means taking your life as collateral. Business is built on this trust. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”