similarly, thinking from the pov of a “self” causes the sense of self to stay static. progress feels non-existent unless it is explicitly tracked or reflected through the eyes of another “omg u’ve changed so much”
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thinking from a pov causes that lens to stay static. e.g. if u think in dollars, a rising dollar will be experienced as everything else getting cheaper since a dollar cannot by definition be worth more than itself
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thinking in dollars is likely a disadvantage for investing the same way thinking in notes (vs scales or chords) is a disadvantage in playing piano. it is too low level of an abstraction
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a denominator is chosen because it allows for useful comparison. it’s stable relative to whatever is being compared the issue is when apples and steaks are compared to houses and cars
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e.g. a house with property tax shouldn’t be thought of as denominated in dollars but in terms of percentage of cash flow or asset appreciation
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this is actually how housing prices are determined by the free market. each buyer(s) figures out a monthly payment based on interest that they’re willing to pay and then the loan calculation pumps out the price. it doesn’t START from price
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denominating the house in dollars doesn’t work b/c the price of getting it is actually ownership over some cash flow. like working at a tech company. learning piano w/o acknowledging chords or scales is a big disadvantage
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similarly, denominating all the experience that is arising via self is useful. a bird can be a meter or so above ME. a rat can be a meter or so in front of ME. this allows me to tsubame gaeshi both of them in one swift strike
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the trouble with this is that most of the activity has little to do with me. if i step on a lego, the lego was not out to get me even though that’s how the experience is interpreted.
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financial understanding requires being able to think in higher level concepts like bonds, gold, equity, real estate, dividend yield, etc… rather than only through the lens of cash even though it all boils down to cash
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world understanding requires being able to think in higher level concepts like male, female, animal, plant, dominant, submissive, race, etc… rather than only through self even though everything observed necessarily involves self in some form
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the desire to simplify the world is anti-bullshit in its INTENT but often oversimplifies to the point that it is destructive e.g. “play the note you read” boils down piano playing and is how computers play sheet music. but it strips out music theory
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“just hoard cash” or “men and women are the same” or “racial and cultural differences don’t matter” are similar attempts at simplification and equalization they destroy the higher level understandings and are actively hostile to the creation of higher level abstractions
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like the piano example, equality is achieved by reducing everyone into an algorithm robotically following instructions. “may i hold your hand. may i kiss you now. i will now engage intimacy protocol”
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many are proud that they think in terms of equity or gold or bitcoin rather than cash the equivalent alternative for thinking from the pov of self is thinking from the pov of the future(child) or god(legacy)
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this is not to day that these are better. abstractions imprison just as much as they free but it might be interesting to ask occasionally “does the denominator make sense for this problem statement?”
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End of conversation
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