The Power and Weakness of the Invisible Hand
In his song ‘Turning 30’ Bo Burnham laments: When he was 27, my granddad fought in Vietnam When I was 27, I built a birdhouse with my mum Oh, fuck (oh), how am I thirty? (oh) I have had this fear a lot: am I on track? I find it hard to believe Bo has this fear given a film he wrote and directed at 27, Eighth Grade, has a Wikipedia page solely dedicated to the accolades it received. Plus, any time spent with your mum is worthwhile. But apparently even he does. So far it has felt like…
The Reduced Opportunity Cost of Trying New Things During Lockdown
Picking where to go on holidays has always been a challenge for me. With only four weeks available per year and so many hikes I’d like to do around the world, there will inevitably be some that need to be culled. There is a sense of loss every time a different destination is rejected in favour of another; even though the Overland Track was great, I didn’t get to do the Great Ocean Walk. This is called the opportunity cost. Not only is there the actual cost of the flights and accommodation, there is the cost of not taking the…
Getting Into and Out of a Rut
I have been through two ruts in my life. If I am almost 30 years old right now, at my current rate in my adult life of one every eight years, I will go through five or six more. I do not want that, so it’s worth delving into their causes to avoid them happening in the future. Firstly, let me describe what a rut looks like when it happens. At its simplest it is an absence of motivation. Not to the extent of being bed-ridden, but more drifting through life. Nothing typifies this more than my second year of…
The (Negative) Marginal Value of Overthinking
I don’t make my bed. I completed the analysis years ago and the results showed that for me it is not worth it. I’m sorry Jordan Peterson. I’m sorry to my roommates who have requested I close my bedroom door so that the ‘bad energies’ don’t spread throughout the house. The effort taken is not worth the benefit of my room looking in order, especially seeing as I will mess it up again in a matter of hours. This is not a decision I make every day, ruminating over while I stare at the bed as a microcosm of the…
Follow-up to the ‘Market for Help’
Lots of interesting discussion with friends and family came out of the previous blog post, here are the highlights: We should specialize in the form of help we give others. What is the helper role you provide? Are you the comforter? The interrogator? The distractor? Then friends and family can come to you and know what type of help they are most likely to receive.If you think someone needs help but are unable to ask for it themselves, open up to them first and even say you need their help with something to get the ball rolling.On the demand side,…
Adverse Selection in the Market for Help
During lockdown I have had an overwhelming urge to help people, which hasn’t felt like a conscious decision but something compelling from deep down. It happened at the start of lockdown 2020 as well, before a subsequent bout of malaise took over, preventing the compulsion being acted upon. This lockdown, so far, has been different. I have acted. To fill the time and get out of my head temporarily, I have been baking and distributing the treats amongst friends. The backpack goes on with packages wrapped in plastic, dealing out dopamine hits of sugar. I’m the smallest of small-time drug…
Introducing the Blog
In his 1962 Nobel Prize winning speech John Steinbeck said: The ancient commission of the writer has not changed. He is charged with exposing our many grievous faults and failures, with dredging up to the light our dark and dangerous dreams for the purpose of improvement. Furthermore, the writer is delegated to declare and to celebrate man’s proven capacity for greatness of heart and spirit – for gallantry in defeat – for courage, compassion and love.” Steinbeck has always been my favourite writer, mainly for his observations of everyday human life but also for his whimsy in the way he…
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Brendan O'Keeffe 