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”
It is said that greed leads to ruin, but before that, it also leads to regret. In other words, the result of regret is ruin. If there is no greed, there is no regret. Greed also triggers sensitive and excessive reactions to wounds. The sensitive response of a human being is linked to wounds, and those wounds reinforce greed once again. Greed provides the strength to face hardship, but success often becomes the seed of a curse because of its aftereffects. We cannot completely eliminate greed, but our lives can be happy only if we manage it wisely. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”