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”
Before the high level of civilization, human life was tribal. However human beings were needed for the large-scale labor force for industrialization, so people were gathering in the cities for a living. That was the detribalization. These days when we are developed by social media, people are used to selectively make a relationship with those who have similar philosophies and preferences. Rather, the new media makes the retribalization in different meanings. Therefore, now human relationships are becoming more important the interests and preferences. When choosing to make a relationship, people gather according to their preferences. Communication is narrower and more easily ostracized. - Joseph’s “just my thoughts”