Archive for December, 2007
A little video just in the time for the holidays
As my last post before the holidays, I want to point you to a breezy little interactive video called “The Story of Stuff.” (Thanks to my friend Derrell for sending me the link.) As the producers describe it:
The Story of Stuff is a 20-minute, fast-paced, fact-filled look at the underside of our production and consumption patterns. The Story of Stuff exposes the connections between a huge number of environmental and social issues, and calls us together to create a more sustainable and just world.
As Americans again gorge on the stuff we call holiday gifts, the video is a timely reminder of the costs of our obsessive consumption. Some may see it as a too-simplistic, one-sided view of modern materialism. But I’m certain it will get you thinking. Along with the video, you’ll find myriad resources on the site to learn more about the problems the producers’ illuminate in the video and some ways out of our materialistic trap.
Check it out.
Forget emotions, crunch the numbers
I had a conversation late last week with a representative of a firm in LA that invests about $40 billion on behalf of large institutions and pension funds. He described his firm’s investing philosophy as “quantitative”, employing as they do a bunch of PhD scientists and mathematicians who examine financial, numerical and measurable data to determine value. “We take the emotion out of investing,” this young guy told me proudly. “Is that a good thing?,” I asked.
Although my sarcastic retort was meant to tease him a bit, it was a genuine question. Virtually every individual and institutional investor is looking for the greatest possible ROI. We recognize that humans can fall prey to their emotions when choosing where to invest their money. Haven’t we all experienced this in our own lives?
Emotions are messy things, often leading us astray. Perhaps it is better to have cold-blooded algorithmic efficiency when it comes to our financial decisions. But why stop there? In this digital era, why not reduce all of our emotional lives to ones and zeros that can be manipulated on a computer screen? How convenient it would be if we weren’t distressed by emotional decisions such as who to marry, who to hire or fire, where to spend the holidays, which homeless person to help, whether to have children and how to tell an elderly parent he shouldn’t be driving anymore. Just tap the digital oracle icon on your iPhone screen and, voila, there’s the recommended decision and the expected benefit you will receive from making it. Easy. Efficient. Productive.
In fact, I can see the oracle’s slogan now: “We take the emotion out of life.”
I’ll crunch some numbers and get back to you on its investment value.