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’s not that humans can simply throw it away or empty it because they possess something; instead, they exchange what is outside of them with what is inside of them. If you discard it, you will receive it. The people just don’t understand this law. To obtain what’s beneficial for you, you need to care for your surroundings. This is why self-management is essential. Not discarding—meaning trying to gain without exchanging—is referred to as greed or avarice. The heavier object in the swamp sinks faster. Escape from a crisis comes not from giving up, but from the exchange. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”