An asset is the foundation of all economic activity. If you have assets, you can run a business and settle your debts. The ways to create assets are ‘how one works,’ ‘how to receive gifts from others,’ and ‘how to purchase assets made by others.’ There is a way to steal, but it is a crime. If you don’t initially own an asset, the simplest and almost the only way to create one is to produce something with your own labor. Whether the product is a service or a good, it must be produced unconditionally. Trading products creates added value. Thinking about trading later and making products first is the fastest and most basic way to escape poverty. Therefore, produce even the smallest things every day. Knowledge, records, art—whatever! - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
As Ernst Gombrich stated, humans do not draw what they see, but rather what they know. They identify differences and interpret them as new based on the patterns embedded in their existing knowledge systems. Therefore, prior knowledge plays a crucial role in accepting new information. Humans do not truly feel or understand what they observe; instead, they feel and perceive only to the extent of their knowledge. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”