Joseph's "Just My Thoughts"

Only when there is a surplus can new things be created. Surplus means having more than what is necessary. Creating something new requires an initial investment in advance. Whether it’s labor or capital—that is, whether labor is purchased with capital—energy can only be used for new work if there is a surplus. Only with prior investment can something entirely new, never seen before, be made. The existence of something that did not exist before in this world results from someone putting in their surplus first. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Money is the most widely used medium of exchange worldwide, serving as a way to buy essential goods needed for life or to store wealth. Since the country guarantees the stability of fiat currency, it becomes possible to exchange ‘things for money’ instead of ‘things for goods,’ unless the country goes bankrupt. However, this amount of money cannot be increased indefinitely. When there is too much money in circulation, its value drops below the price of goods, causing those who hold wealth in money to lose that wealth. The key point is that money is limited in the market. Due to this limitation, money gains value. The government regulates this money supply through the ‘interest rate.’ Raising the interest rate reduces the money supply, while lowering it increases the supply. This helps control prices. Therefore, understanding the interest rate is crucial for managing and valuing wealth, making it essential to know the interest rate above all else in life. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

FAST (Free Ad-supported Streaming TV) is gaining attention. It refers to a type of media service where viewers watch ads and access content for free instead of paying a fixed subscription fee to watch movies or shows online. However, strictly speaking, FAST isn’t truly free because viewers must watch ads. In terms of opportunity cost, the viewer pays for the service by watching ads instead of paying a subscription fee. All free offerings are created through a value exchange. Let’s not be mistaken—nothing is truly free. Freebies are simply a form of payment. My expenses become someone else’s income. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Humans can explain why they consciously act, but it’s hard to clarify their unconscious actions. When we can’t explain our unconscious behaviors, we often feel a sense of fear. We perform many actions unconsciously without realizing it, but if we can’t explain why, our brains invent their own stories. Humans are naturally drawn to and affected by stories. Fear arises when we’re in a situation that can’t be explained by our stories. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

It took 3,000 years from the appearance of smallpox in the world to the development of a vaccine. It took 13 years for AIDS, 5 years for Ebola, and just 4 months for COVID-19. Seven days after the COVID-19 outbreak was reported to the WHO, all of the viral DNA sequences were identified. The rapid development of an mRNA vaccine in such a short timeframe has never been achieved in human history. This demonstrates how remarkable progress in biology and biotechnology has become. Similarly, the pace of wealth creation and economic growth has also sped up. It is a recent phenomenon in the long history of human life that we now measure time in seconds. We need to understand what kind of world we are living in right now. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Negativity Bias: the tendency to focus more on bad things than good ones, influenced by its survival benefits. Our language contains about 30% words expressing positive emotions, 50% expressing negative emotions, and the rest neutral. It’s probably normal to say negative things. However, even in this environment, a small number of successful people use “positive language” that they are less likely to speak. Habits are important. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”

Globalization is not a recent phenomenon; it began in the 1870s when international trade and investment expanded to sell mass-produced products worldwide, driven by technologies such as steam engines and electricity. The peak of globalization occurred in 2019, just before the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak. The economy advances primarily through improvements in productivity. The technological advancements mentioned have significantly influenced this productivity growth. For example, a smartphone, which combines the functionality of a computer with that of a mobile device, exemplifies technological progress that has brought convenience to mankind. However, smartphone technology and network effects haven’t contributed to the expected boost in human productivity. Technology can be categorized into those that enhance productivity and those that do not. Although today’s technology development exceeds that of the past, it doesn’t automatically lead to greater productivity. To build wealth, incre...