According to the economic law of comparative advantage two groups are economically better off if they both focus on their own advantage and trade off everything else. For example, if Adam can make 4 widgets/hour or 3 gadgets/hour while Bob can make 1 widget/hour but 2 gadgets/hour, Adam should focus only on making widgets, while Bob should focus on making gadgets. Adam can get his gadgets by trading his widgets with Bob and vice versa. The same is true when Adam is faster at making gadgets than Bob.
That’s why we buy cheap clothes and cars from far away countries and make advanced technology, movies, and weapons here. For each person it is also the reason why someone for example works as a plumber while hiring a tax preparer, electrician, etc. for other needs.
Now, last Sunday, DW and I went fishing. DW got a fishing rod the day before so we drove to a nearby park/lake and rented a rowboat. We then spent a few hours where I somehow tried to keep the boat with mismatched oars from being blown ashore while DW desperately tried to avoid losing the bait to the weeds (and trees).
My God! Why didn’t we follow the law of comparative advantage and inadvertently hire a professional harbor crew who would be able to catch fish much cheaper than we had
? Because we were happy! Yes, of course, we are happy. DW had fun trying to catch a fish and learning how to use a spinning wheel on a boat (for the first time in twenty years) and I enjoyed rowing the boat around.
Figure out our opportunity costs, the cost of renting a boat, and the cost of a fishing pole and permits, and the fact that we didn’t catch anything.
Life is not just about maximizing economic profits and achieving dubious goals. It’s about engaging in the world around us. It just so happened that a rowboat was the cheapest option available. The lady in charge seemed a little surprised that we went on a boat with cool stripes “are you nuts?” – the expression on his face. The same reaction of the boy at the fishing port
However, I didn’t choose the liner because it was cheaper. I chose it because I could. It was not difficult to read. Even with one oar longer than the other and the other turned the wrong way by 30 degrees, I end up pulling a little “broken” and rocking the boat. Now I know what it really means to move a boat on the lake.
He even came out in his motorboat saying that he would take us back as we had to go 1.5 kilometers against the wind. We refused. Death before shame!
😛
I guess the nuts on the boat were somewhat curious in a lake full of motorboats with their ice-cooling engines, but what do they know? Maybe they didn’t care about the practicality of boating and wanted to focus on fishing. It is also possible that they were physically incapable of rowing. (I must have been rowing about every 2 hours.)
Don’t stop exploring. If you don’t push yourself constantly, you’re going through a dull life.
Dean Karnazes
I prefer to get full information though. As for exploring, I absolutely hate being a tourist. Tourism is a passive way of dealing with life. It is usually pre-packaged. Go there. Look at that. Eat this. Take a trip. Participate in such and such activities. Bah humbug! That’s the shrink-wrapped version. That is not living life to the fullest. Be aware that locals NEVER do what tourists do wherever you go.
I get the same feeling from flying, the house I live in, driving a car, having a job, watching TV, … In fact, modern life is very similar to tourism, pre-packaged. Little of it is true and most of it is created and made by professionals who benefit from comparison. It may be economically successful, but I think a lot about what it means to be human has been lost.
One must be able to change a diaper, plan an attack, slaughter a pig, attack a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, write accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give. order, cooperate, act alone, solve math, analyze a new problem, add compost, program a computer, cook delicious food, fight well, die fast. Expertise in entomology.
-Robert A. Heinlein
That’s why I chose a rowing boat. That’s why I did my own taxes (as much as possible). That’s why I prefer walking to driving. This is why I refuse to rely on one specialized job to compensate for my lack of many other skills even though economically it is worse.
Economically speaking, it means that Heinlein insects work and spend accordingly as part of a larger economic system or nest. On the other hand, Heinlein’s people rely heavily on them and thus can get the same results without paying nearly as much.
What is the point of working your whole life to make/produce only one thing and then consume everything else? It may increase GDP, income, net worth, … but I don’t think that’s what life is about.
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