For much of history, we lived in a world defined by scarcity, the type of scarcity that killed most of our ancestors. Food, clean water, shelter, social stability, were all rare. Because of this, individuals got hard-wired to indulge in abundance when it came our … Continue readingIs More Better?
How poor is the person who thinks to themselves, “I can’t wait for this day to end.” It could be that whatever ails him, is the result of events outside of his control. But even so, to treat one’s limited time with such disdain is … Continue readingToday is THE Day
There’s a unique property of finance and financial assets that many don’t understand. Finance is a zero-sum game. Someone has to lose in order for someone else to win. This is true for all asset types from a purely mathematical standpoint. Let me give an … Continue readingThe Zero-Sum Game
In this post, I explore financial value and valuation from a higher level of abstraction. The goal is not to turn you into a valuation expert for any specific good or service, but to challenge how you think about money and value more broadly. These … Continue readingMoney, Value and Valuation
There’s a simple method to find the true value of anything. Picture yourself stranded on an island, absent government, markets, law enforcement, infrastructure and those who manage it. Under those conditions, anything that is synthetic drops to a value of zero. Money, gold, crypto, contracts, intellectual property—all … Continue readingTrue Value Survives Under Pressure
Back in the old days, when we lived in an information poor environment, people were still pretty amazing at recognizing patterns. But these patterns were built on limited data points, as most people only had their own personal experiences to pull from. As a result, … Continue readingThe Good Ol’ Days
NEWS: Read about single extreme case scenario and generalize to all seemingly similar scenarios. Feel panic, feel fear, get angry, empathize, remain hopeful. Murder, rape, racism, corruption, drug epidemic, new highly contagious virus that will kill all of humanity. Lock your doors! Close your minds! … Continue readingThe News
The operating system you choose to run once you have escaped your environmental programing is what will determine the conditions of your life. Those who believe otherwise are destined to become slaves to the ideas and machinations of others. The only thing you truly have … Continue readingEnvironmental Programing
Societies function optimally when the behavior of their citizens can be predicted and manipulated. This allows for long-term planning and large scale efficiencies. Because of this, it is beneficial for societies to create a mechanism that encourages you to derive a big part of your … Continue readingYou Are Not Your Job
The world is the best that it has ever been, but the average person wouldn’t know it. This is partly due to us all getting fed a steady diet of fear and negativity from almost all of our media outlets. Regardless of political affiliation, your … Continue readingPathological Scarcity of Gratitude