As Amit Varma explains in his recent Econ Central podcast,
every decision-making involving a to-do or not-to-do situation is all about
opportunity cost. If we have an hour to spend, we can either watch something on
Netflix or Prime, browse through the bottomless pits of Insta or facebook,
fight on twitter, listen to a podcast, call up an old friend, talk to family
members, cook, wash dishes, read or just sit and think (or worry). We can do
one of these things and at max two, but it will always be one at the cost of another.
And that’s precisely the Opportunity Cost Decision Making Model.
Even if we could multitask to do two activities at a time,
one activity will be what we want to get done with and the other activity, a
sort of catalyst/motivator to do the first activity - like washing dishes while
listening to a podcast. If I were to maximize my pleasure, I wouldn't be
washing dishes. However, listening to a podcast while washing dishes is
encouraging. I get the incentive of listening to a podcast (catalyst/motivator)
while I complete my to-do of washing dishes. One can argue that this
multi-tasking compromises the focus on said activities but, hey, it gets the
work done.
To maximize pleasure or minimize pain in a given context has
always been the pursuit of humankind and using our constrained time to do that is precisely how we take decisions. As Newton had observed, a body continues to
be in a state of rest or in motion, unless acted upon by an external force.
Body = what we want to do to gain pleasure or avoid pain
external force = constraint
Newton may like to rephrase as:
We continue to maximize pleasure or minimize pain in an activity as long as our constraint (time, money, etc.) runs out or we have an even bigger pleasure or lesser pain to pursue.
We continue to maximize pleasure or minimize pain in an activity as long as our constraint (time, money, etc.) runs out or we have an even bigger pleasure or lesser pain to pursue.
And if you’re reading this line, I thank you for your trust in
believing that this will be worth your time.
Let's dive into The Week Mind
A. Political
For an Indian who has been following the news, there isn't
much that's already unknown on the Sino-Indian border conflict. We have been fed
only the nationalistic, Indian viewpoint by our media. Once in a while, it’s worth knowing how the world views it. Like, literally. This article presents a
3D view of the terrain of where the conflict happened. It is worth viewing on a bigger screen
(definitely not on a phone).
At his best, G. Sampath interviews a representative from the
Corona world. In a candid interview, the Corona-rep acknowledges their operations,
shares their success stories and future growth plans. G. Sampath does his best
in asking the right questions to elicit mind blowing responses. If there is one
article that you read, let it be this. It will make your day.
B. Technology
Absolutely fascinating images of the Sun, shot at the
midpoint between the Sun and the Earth. The distance between the Sun and the Earth
is 14 crore km. The Solar Orbiter launched by the European Space Agency (ESA)
is currently at 6.4 crore km from the Earth. What scientists also believe is
that the observations made by the Solar Orbiter will help us understand why the
temperature of the Sun's Corona (yes, even the Sun has a Corona ;)) is over 1
million degrees (Celsius or Fahrenheit doesn't matter), while the Sun's surface
is approximately 5500 degrees Celsius. This is like saying, when we boil water
in a kettle, the temperature outside the kettle is near 1000 degrees Celsius
but the kettle itself is only at a temperature of 80 degrees Celsius.
Fascinating, right?
C. Marketing
The TikTok bandwagon was gaining momentum like no other. The
platform garnered people like a sale day in the Lulu shopping mall. Unprecedented
equality was what TikTok stood for. As the cliché goes, anything good in life
is either illegal, immoral or fattening. TikTok soon became illegal in India.
During the good old days of licensing raj, if there was a
ban on something, there was a black market for it or a close substitute would
take its place. Let’s suppose the government bans sugar tomorrow. The options
available to consumers would be to either buy sugar at exorbitant prices from a
black market or look for substitutes like sugar-free sucralose.
Are the TikTok substitutes, especially Instagram Reels, good
enough to replace it? Hard to say, as nothing ever turns out as cool as the
originals!
This is a subscriber only article from ET Prime. If you want
to read it and don't have a subscription, kindly whatsapp or email me. I will
send you a gift link.
D. Economics
Nothing interesting here!
E. Sports
Ben Stokes - What a player! He squared the #raisethebat
series with his scintillating performance with both bat and ball. If anyone can
single-handedly win a World Cup, riveting Test matches and lose a T20 final, it
has got to be him. Harsha Bhogle's tweet sums up the rest
Stokes gets the breakthroughs too. I think he is being wasted on a cricket ground. In this form, he'll probably find a vaccine for Covid!— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) July 20, 2020
In the football world, Liverpool lifted their Premier League
trophy and what a night it was! I hope Sportstar comes out with a poster to
celebrate the once in a lifetime (till now) phenomenon!
F. eCommerce
Nothing interesting here either!
G. Behaviour
With glaring anecdotes and excerpts from consumers and
organizations, Suneera and Shuchi have mapped out how our buying behaviour has
changed in response to the COVID crisis. Be it newer needs or down trading,
there is a paradigm shift in the way we think about spending money. Earlier we
discussed how time is a constraint. A similar approach to money is leading us
to this change in behaviour.
H. Books & Cinema
I am still reading Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond
since 7th Jun. No changes there.
We watched a Tamil movie called Penguin starring Keerthi
Suresh. Initially, I was flabbergasted at the ratings of 4.6 on imdb. The first
half of the movie was nowhere close to such poor rating. But, the crew brings justice
with constant deterioration. By the time we reached the climax, it did feel
like a 4.6 movie. The male actors did a poor job. With gaping holes in the screenplay, the movie
was choppy and at times illogical as well. We – the characters in the movie and
those of us who watched it - need to consult a mental health expert to recover
from the onslaught.
With that, we wrap up this week's musing.
Do share a list of interesting articles that you came
across.
Do share your thoughts on what was good and what can be
improved.
And that's word no. 1186
