Benn Stancil did a nice blog on how there are huge differences between top marathoners and amazing athletes we might meet in an ordinary lifetime. The top is much much better than the 95th percentile. But I don’t think it follows that something that is 5X more expensive that it will necessarily deliver 5X or 10 X more utility or enjoyment. It may only deliver a little bit more enjoyment. For example, there are some wines that are very expensive and rare, and they do taste better than the typical stuff. But there are also wines that are very expensive and rare yet they don’t really taste much different (to me) than much cheaper ones. I do believe there are people who are willing to pay the premium and who believe they are getting a bargain for the additional enjoyment they perceive. But the effect is not universal. I won’t necessarily enjoy something just because other people are able to justify a huge price for it.
Yeah...i guess you need a lot of self knowledge to know what you actually care about and will derive a lot of value from, and only invest in the really big experiences in those cases?
I imagine that a person with a great deal of money would experience the added cost as a small amount to pay, even for a marginally better hotel experience. On the other hand a person with less money would experience the added cost as a large amount and would need a much better hotel experience to feel good about the choice.
Determining a value is often very idiosyncratic. A friend of mine in 1955, on a tour of Kentucky distilleries, paid $15 ($175 in today's currency) for one shot of the best whisky. His monthly salary as a medical intern was just $15. It tasted only marginally better than the $0.50 /shot whiskey. And he never bought expensive whiskey again But it was worth it to him. He had no debts, no family responsibilities. What he was buying was the pleasure of telling the story, for the rest of his life, that he had spent a whole month's salary on one shot of whiskey.
Not quite as bad as it seems. In addition to the salary, we did get free room (hospital dorm), free board (hospital staff dining room), and free laundry (scrubs only).
Very persuasive. Start a gofundme 😃.
a worthy cause
Agree with Jim Nicholas.
Benn Stancil did a nice blog on how there are huge differences between top marathoners and amazing athletes we might meet in an ordinary lifetime. The top is much much better than the 95th percentile. But I don’t think it follows that something that is 5X more expensive that it will necessarily deliver 5X or 10 X more utility or enjoyment. It may only deliver a little bit more enjoyment. For example, there are some wines that are very expensive and rare, and they do taste better than the typical stuff. But there are also wines that are very expensive and rare yet they don’t really taste much different (to me) than much cheaper ones. I do believe there are people who are willing to pay the premium and who believe they are getting a bargain for the additional enjoyment they perceive. But the effect is not universal. I won’t necessarily enjoy something just because other people are able to justify a huge price for it.
Yeah...i guess you need a lot of self knowledge to know what you actually care about and will derive a lot of value from, and only invest in the really big experiences in those cases?
I imagine that a person with a great deal of money would experience the added cost as a small amount to pay, even for a marginally better hotel experience. On the other hand a person with less money would experience the added cost as a large amount and would need a much better hotel experience to feel good about the choice.
Determining a value is often very idiosyncratic. A friend of mine in 1955, on a tour of Kentucky distilleries, paid $15 ($175 in today's currency) for one shot of the best whisky. His monthly salary as a medical intern was just $15. It tasted only marginally better than the $0.50 /shot whiskey. And he never bought expensive whiskey again But it was worth it to him. He had no debts, no family responsibilities. What he was buying was the pleasure of telling the story, for the rest of his life, that he had spent a whole month's salary on one shot of whiskey.
Wow! I'm mostly astonished at how low his medical intern salary was. But i'm glad that it was worth it to him.
Value is really hard to determine!
Not quite as bad as it seems. In addition to the salary, we did get free room (hospital dorm), free board (hospital staff dining room), and free laundry (scrubs only).