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”
Famous for his book "The Gun, the Germs and Steel," the great scholar "Jared Diamond" speaks 13 foreign languages. Once he made the wrong decision to change his job. He wanted to leave the field of science behind and become a "simultaneous interpreter." In the United States, however, speaking 13 languages seemed competitive, but being able to speak many languages in other parts of the world could not be competitive. Before doing a preferred occupation or doing something better than others, you should calmly be able to figure out your field of action first. - Joseph’s "just my thoughts"