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”
Knowing and doing are two very different things. Zhuge Liang, an incomparable genius who was a Chinese prime minister of the Three Kingdoms, knew the deep secret of nature. However, he suffered a great defeat in the most important battle because he wrongly appointed Ma Su as his subordinate general, even though he knew him well and had received a warning about his appointment from the late king. Personnel management is the most difficult thing in the world, and to manage it well is the key to success. - Joseph's "just my thoughts"