Everything that is expressed and recorded externally, such as cell phones, computers, memos, books, and drawings, is an extension of the brain. Our brains aren’t just inside our bodies. This concept is important because extending the ego greatly influences how we see the world. We pay close attention to topics that involve us personally. Self-relevance is a key factor that drives our lives. Personal relationships and possessions get a lot of focus, while other areas seem less important. This is due to a feature of the human brain called ‘selective cognition.’ As civilization advanced, humans delegated parts of the brain’s functions to machines. It was inevitable to make good use of these tools. We should take an interest in the Homo Faber. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”
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 more cheaply, 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”