Saturday Serendipity
Quote, Mental Model, Interesting find.
Hi there!
Reading time: About 3 minutes
Quote
“Logic will get you from A to Z; imagination will get you everywhere.”
― Albert Einstein
Mental Model
Envy
“It’s not greed that drives the world, it’s envy.” ~ Charlie Munger
This quote is very famous and Munger has many times said that envy is one of the worst emotions a human can feel.
I have a personal experience with regard to envy that I would like to share. I was very happy when I found out that I had got a 72/80 in my economics end term exam. I was so happy that for the first time I felt like I was not afraid to show people my marks. Then I went on to ask one of my close friends his marks (expecting to get more than him) he actually beat me. Turns out there were a lot of people who did. Now while I was happy that I got 72/80 as soon as I learned that others had got more than me I was not disappointed but I was definitely not happy.
This case is similar to someone being happy when he gets a $1 million check for the year until he sees that the person he works with got a $1.1 million check.
It is very hard to stop comparing ourselves to others but what we can try is to make peace with the outcome that we are facing. Instead of being unhappy or happy because of what my neighbour is doing just be happy based on if you have met your expectations or surpassed it.
In Investing
In investing envy plays a big role. People feel FOMO when they see others doing well but they are not. Just recently a friend of mine keeps sending me pictures of a stock that is doing well. I have to keep remembering that the only important thing to me is the business. In the short term these stocks which have no good business to back the price up.
This is not an easy thing to do. Every time a some stock rallies and someone else is making money it is hard to not cave in and buy.
You know Isaac Newton?
Yeah one of the brightest minds of the world. He succumbed to envy and FOMO.
So if one of the smartest men in the planet can succumb to envy what is going to stop you?
Well you need to try your best to keep reminding yourself that envy is stupid and it will get you nowhere. Don’t try to mimic others and try and make sure that your desires are not born from envy.
The second thing you should realise is that there is always someone out there who is richer than you and is making more money than you. This should humble you. No matter how hard you try you cannot forever remain to be the richest man in the planet.
To end things I would like to quote Munger again.
“Envy is a really stupid sin because it’s the only one you could never possibly have any fun at. There’s a lot of pain and no fun. Why would you want to get on that trolley?”
Interesting Find
That’s it for this week!