The Surprising Economics of Self-Improvement

[photo by bcachia]

I’m a sucker for a self-help book. I’ll pick one up every time I’m at a bookstore or library. I have a lot of flaws I need to fix.

I’ve learned throughout my life to notice my flaws, to identify them and work on them. That’s the way we get better, right? We take note of weaknesses and bring to bear the full force of our capacity to change on them.

It won’t be long before I’m good at math, stop procrastinating, get organized and learn to play the guitar. I’m no good at science, artistic design or computer programming. But these weaknesses will become my strengths with the application of effort and the right system.

This is the road to self-improvement. Or is it merely a road to frustrated mediocrity?

The late-eighteenth century economist David Ricardo gives a surprising answer. He published On the Principles of Political Economy and Taxation in 1817 in which he laid out the theory of Comparative Advantage. This theory postulates nations should focus their resources on the industry at which they are most efficient.

Said another way, countries should focus on their strengths not their weaknesses.

This is true when a nation is better at something than anyone else, or has an absolute advantage, but it is also true when a nation, even at its best, is still less efficient than other countries in a particular industry. It should still focus on that industry if that is what it is most efficient at because it has a comparative advantage.

Likewise we should not spend our time and energy trying to “fix” our flaws, but rather spend that energy developing our strengths. We will still have weaknesses but our weaknesses can be compensated by partnering with someone else who has strengths which complement our weaknesses.

When we combine our talents in this way we gain the benefit of increased productivity in the areas we excel at and allow others to maximize their potential by focusing on their strengths as well.

If we attempt to fix ourselves we neglect our comparative strengths while putting effort into areas we are unlikely to improve much. We end up becoming mediocre at many things rather than really good at a few things.

If I am good at writing and public speaking, I should not spend my time attempting to become good at math or computer programming. Instead I should become a very good writer and public speaker then hire someone to do math and computer programming for me.

This is the remarkable insight of David Ricardo and his theory of Comparative Advantage.

Why There Are So Many Coincidences

[photo by Travis Nicholson]

It’s uncanny when we think of someone just before they call or have a dream about something that later turns out to happen nearly as it had in our sleep. I don’t doubt there are forces at work which we don’t, and perhaps cannot, understand.

However, I think the majority of these “amazing” coincidences are attributable to the fact we are victims of selectivity bias. We are constantly thinking of people and imagining future events.

These thoughts run through our minds so regularly we pay them little heed until, by a random occurrence, someone calls us just as we’re thinking of them or we call them and it turns out they were just thinking of us. We don’t count all the times we thought of people and they didn’t call.

We selectively count the hits but not the misses. One might be inclined to think the odds of someone calling at the very moment we’re thinking of them are so astronomical any occurrence would be remarkable, but this would be naïve.

The vast majority of people have fewer than 100 friends with whom they stay in regular contact. Most of us have only a handful of very close friends.

When you consider how active our brain is—how many thoughts pass through our minds in any given hour—it should not be surprising that sooner or later we will get a call from one of our friends around the time we were thinking of them.

Another reason we see so many coincidences is events don’t have to match our dreams exactly to be considered a hit.

If we dream about being in a car accident and the next day have a flat tire we may see that as close enough. We could also consider passing an accident scene, hearing about a friend getting in an accident or almost getting in an accident as fulfilling our dream prophesy.

With the definition of a hit being so vaguely defined we are led to believe we experience these foreshadowing dreams more often than would seem to occur by random chance.

Probability is difficult to calculate and I certainly don’t claim to be knowledgeable on the subject. I even have a hard time when the odds are fairly straight forward like flipping a coin, rolling dice or turning playing cards.

In life, we are rarely given a statistical problem with known odds. In attempting to quantify the problems above we would need to know how often we’re likely to think of a particular individual and how likely they are to call or how often people dream of getting in car accidents.

These complications leave the majority of us baffled when it comes to estimating probability so we generally don’t even try. We just regard rare events as amazing without any context from which to answer the question, how amazing?

We Are All at Fault

[photo by Don Ricardo Pezzano]

Some people are selfish. We all think about being selfish. But our instinct is to be helpful. We want to be helpful because we empathize.

We think if we help someone we can make them better off. If we do not help others we are a bad person. If we help people too much we hurt them. If we hurt others we are a bad person.

When we do for others what they can do for themselves, we take their dignity. When we do not allow others to experience the effects of their actions, we rob them of growth.

This line is forever before us and behind us; we will cross it repeatedly. The best answer is to genuinely care about others and do what you think will benefit them the most.

But keep this as a focus: Instead of creating wealth, create dignity.

Are You an Ancient Spirit?

photo by wazari

I had a conversation some time ago with a quiet woman who was thoughtful and presumably insightful. She made several unsolicited observations about me, most of which were quite general and all were flattering to some extent. Things like, “I can tell you’re a very careful individual.”

She is not a psychic or a fortune teller, just an acquaintance who likes to share her observations. Yes, she lives in California.

One day during a thought-provoking conversation she told me I had an “ancient spirit”. Again, rather vague, but also sort of appealing. It brings to mind someone wise beyond their years. However, it could also mean she thinks my ideas are old fashioned and out of date. So I began to question my perspectives and wonder how they reflect today’s culture.

One of my strong beliefs is the uselessness and pure self-indulgence of privilege. I don’t believe anyone should get special treatment regardless of their title, talent or wealth. So often movie stars, athletes and other celebrities get treated as royalty, with people going out of their way to make special accommodations for them.

Most often it isn’t done at the celebrity’s request. It’s a spontaneous outpouring of deference we feel they’re somehow due. I find it odd, especially in the United States, to see this sort of behavior since we long ago rejected the idea of kings and of a privileged aristocracy.

Perhaps it is too deeply ingrained within us to want a ruler; to desire to subject ourselves to someone.

The most egregious form of this behavior is when we allow elected officials to exempt themselves from the rules they establish for the rest of society. In what reality does this seem like a good idea, to have the people making laws exempt from those very laws? It’s a recipe for disaster.

It’s like letting your older brother cut the candy bar in half AND pick which half he wants.

So I surprised myself the other day when I was returning to Bahrain from a trip abroad. As I approached the immigration checkpoint I saw the line was already long and twisted back and forth on itself long enough to look like about a half hour wait.

Just as I was approaching the back of the line however an official motioned for me to go through a line on the far left which was reserved for VIPs and was completely vacant at the moment. I don’t consider myself a VIP but maybe I had the appearance of one. I followed his direction to the line and was through immigration in an instant.

On the other side I thought first of how lucky I’d been to have been able to make it through so quickly rather than have to stand in that long line. And then it occurred to me that I had just received the same treatment I abhor when given to others.

How can I justify not waiting in line with everyone else? Was I better than them? Did I deserve special treatment? No, but I didn’t decline when it was offered. I suppose that’s how celebrities feel sometimes as well. They don’t ask for it but they’ll take it when offered.

Perhaps deep down I am an ancient spirit and I enjoy it when people defer to me. After all, I never asked to be the king.