Phases of a society

Ray Dalio outlines 5 phases of a sovereign state:

1) In phase 1, people are poor and they think they are poor.
2) In phase 2, people are getting rich but they still think they are poor.
3) In phase 3, people are rich and they think they are rich.
4) In phase 4, people are poorer but they still think they are rich.
5) In phase 5, the state is on the decline but people are slow to accept it.

Does this mean people's perspective tends to be behind reality?

What is value to the receiver?

Something captivates my senses. Should I decide based on the sensation given by my senses? Should I judge a book by its cover?

What is value to the provider?

I see value in my own way. Something is of great value to me if I feel uneasy without it.

Revisiting the story of the 3 little pigs

The first house is built with straw; the second house is built with wooden sticks; the third house built with bricks. In the end, the wolf manages to blow down the first 2 houses but not the third. Does this mean that if I don't do a shabby job, I am more able to ride through difficult period?

Size and frequency of earthquakes

There have been an average of 18 earthquakes of magnitude 7-8 and 1 earthquake of magnitude > 8 each year. Does this imply the bigger the size of an event, the less probable it is to happen?

What makes a person lucky?

Richard Wiseman finds that lucky people generate their own good fortune via four basic principles. They:

1) are skilled at creating and noticing opportunities.
2) make lucky decisions by listening to their intuition.
3) create self-fulfilling prohesies via positive expectations.
4) adopt a resilient attitude that transforms bad luck into good.

To be lucky, I need to at least try and try persistently?

Relevance of lie

I can actually feel good when I live in ignorance. Knowing the truth can cause distraction and confusion. Lenin once said: "A lie told often enough becomes the truth".

What is in the propaganda model?

The media is a powerful tool. The government can direct the media to execute biased reporting to control the mind of the people. Alternative source of media is essential to break out of this control.

How to nurture children?

As a parent, I shall expose my children to many experiences to let them find out what they like to do. It is best to let them be curious and ask questions. If they don't, I will try to ask them a few teasing questions. When I answer their question, I ought to give indirect answer or answer with a question. The worst is to give answer directly without they even asking.

What women seek in men?

Almost every woman, by nature, looks for a man who can be a provider so that she can feel safe and protected. She subtly seeks out this quality in men by initiating a request for a favour and observe how he responds. Besides being endowed with physical features that attract men to her, she spends substantial amount of energy enhancing her attractiveness. Dating is another way she interviews the men in her radar. Ideally, she wants her idol to be her mate.

Faith or blind faith?

I have faith in myself and the future when I embark on doing something. Do I know myself well enough that I have adequate interest and aptitude to keep me going?

How to manage my life like managing a business?

Very simply, I need to have a steady stream of income and manage my expense to below my income. To achieve a low expense, I have to reduce my want and need to the extent that I get budget surplus. At the same time, I can squeeze value out of my every cent spent by being price sensitive while optimizing utility.

What is in delayed gratification?

I have been working to get gratification in return. As I work, I save part of my reward in a piggy bank for subsequent gratification. As days go by, I am tempted to break the piggy bank to gratify myself. Can I resist the temptation for even greater gratification in the future as the reserve in my piggy bank grows bigger?

Studies have shown that people who can delay gratification tend to have greater achievement.

Value of passion and effort

Some people put in extreme amount effort to do something. They are really passionate about doing it and they feel the value of what they are doing. The value they have created are some abstract value which most people do not appreciate. Nevertheless, some lateral thinkers are able to perceive the abstract value and will patronize the work these passionate people.

Why is ding (鼎) 3-legged?

A 2-legged one will topple easily while a 4-legged one tends to rock easily on uneven ground. A 3-legged ding is definitely most stable - it will not rock or topple easily. Does this mean that a 3-party system is the most stable?

When 2 parties do not thrust each other, a third party may be able to mediate a settlement. Liberals and conservatives, being opposing camps, are also being separated and prevented from fighting one another by moderates.

Rhythm of the music

Government prints money and distribute it to the banks and the music begins. The banks decide where the money should go to and people flock to where the money is and dance. As people dance, we start to hear positive news. There will be a time dancing starts to ebb and I start to hear some bad news.