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”
The most difficult writing in the Bible that I’ve ever read is ‘Job.’ In introducing ‘Job,’ the Bible states that he was a rich man of strong faith and the head of a happy family, but it does not explain the origins of the blessings he enjoyed. As he endures indescribable hardships, the reasons for his suffering remain unclear. In other words, he was blessed without explanation and suffered without explanation. The first part of the book of Job, which describes his blessings, contrasts with the latter part, in which he loses everything and eventually recovers for the first time. Yet, there is no explanation for this recovery either. Job’s life serves as a profound example of human experience. For many, the most painful aspect is to enjoy blessings without reason and to lose those blessings without reason. Our lives compel us to confront this reality, and that is the essence of our existence. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”