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”
Architecture has developed in response to the epidemic. The city was designed to mitigate the risk of outbreaks. However, its high population density renders it susceptible to epidemics. A potential solution to this issue involves the construction of a water supply and sewage system, which safeguards individuals from waterborne infectious diseases (e.g., cholera) by effectively separating and burying water and sewage underground. Nonetheless, the advent of vaccines has facilitated the existence of megacities with populations exceeding 10 million people. Indeed, microorganisms predominantly populate the Earth. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”