The relativity of values causes us to use money irrationally. I go to the supermarket to buy a $15 pen, and the clerk smiles and says, “You can buy this pen for $7 if you walk 5 minutes from here.” Then, most people walk five minutes and buy a $15 pen for $7. But if you want to buy a $1,000 jacket and the clerk smiles and says, “You can get a $992 jacket in five minutes from here,” most people simply buy the $1,000 jacket. Reasonably, walking for 5 minutes equals the effort, and the profit of $8 is the same. However, people might go to a store that sells pens cheaper, but not for the jacket, because the discount rate is too low. In other words, the relativity of comparing values makes us act irrationally. The pen’s discount rate is 55%, and the jacket’s is only 0.8%. Yet, the total amount is the same for all $8, and the effort to gain that profit is identical. Attitudes and misconceptions about consumption influence how we build wealth. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
In the Bible, David was a shepherd when he ousted the beast with pebbles and a sling, but when he threw stones at the enemy with the same pebbles and sling, he became the king’s son-in-law. The ability and tools are the same, but his life changed completely when the objects and situations of using them changed. The way to escape the crisis depends on the abilities and the ability to grasp the object and situation to which it is applied rather than the replacement or improvement of the skills and tools. Of course, luck is also important. Because luck also creates a situation. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”