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KEW Episode 110: The Acid Test. The Nature of Enough

Much of this episode, and future episodes, are inspired by The Great Simplification and the concept of ‘Energy Blindness’. I am also reading Morgan Housels’ book, ‘The Psychology of Money’, https://www.amazon.com/Psychology-Money-Timeless-lessons-happiness/dp/0857197681 I mention these guys, as well as an older KEW episode, in this Episode. Here I argue that nature provides enough. Probably the concept of enough doesn’t exist in nature because it almost always exists. Hoarding and gluttony don’t seem to be common practices…

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“How Do You Know How Much is Enough?” KEW Episode 20: Enough

When asked how much is enough, John D. Rockefeller famously replied, “Just a little more”. We’ve all thought this about some things. Whether it’s losing ‘enough’ weight, making ‘enough’ money, being loved ‘enough’ we all (mistakenly) believe that if we get ‘enough’ of ‘whatever’, we’ll be ‘happy’. And since a lot of us either want many things, or aren’t sure which things we want the most, we tend to maximize ‘enough toward everything’. So we…

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FLASHBACK! KEW Episode 37: Currency of Life

We are taught that money is the currency of our lives. Really, everything we learn comes back to earning money so we can take care of ourselves and our loved ones. I’m not omniscient and definitely come from a privileged background, but it’s hard for me to imagine a scenario where getting money isn’t the primary goal. Because money buys all the other stuff we need. Our needs are met using money. Certainly I’m generalizing…

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KEW Episode 37: Currency of Life

One of the things I think about most often is how we have to have a job to earn money to buy the time we want to live our lives. It’s like the life we’re born with is secretly conditional upon participating in this loop. I’m not angry about it anymore, but I used to be. This forced agreement seemed unfair. Not that I didn’t want to work, I just felt violated having my life…

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Preview KEW Episode 37: The Currency of Life

Money is important. You need it to get the other things you need. Once you have enough money to meet your basic needs (food, shelter, safety) you can think about other things in life. People use money to measure their success and their ability to have other important things. Money is like the gateway. But there are other currencies we use and spend every day. For me, two important currencies are Time and Love. Without…

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FLASHBACK! KEW Episode 15: Rat Racer

If you’re part of the Rat Race, you’re a Rat Racer! And maybe you’re doing really well. Winning, even. But even if you win, like Lily Tomlin said, you’re still a Rat. That’s how I have felt during the 35 years I’ve been working. Even when I got my ‘dream job’ as a professor, I still felt the pressure to win the Rat Race. Even now that I’m trying to do my own thing, and…

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