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”
We often find that the more intelligent people are critical of the world. However, a wise person does not use their superior abilities to blame others but to help others. When used foolishly, superior abilities can harm the world; when used wisely, they can help the world. Superior intelligence should not be judged by the extent or depth of its knowledge, but by the fruit it produces. Most of the world's abilities are judged by the value of their use rather than their effectiveness of utilization. A tree should be evaluated by its fruit, not its roots or trunk. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”