"The Economics of Scarcity" Why do you keep making bad decisions?

Title: The Economics of Scarcity
Authors: Sendil Mulanathan, Elda Shafir Translators: Xie Shukuan

Scarcity is a mindset

Scarcity can have both positive and negative effects. When the author mentions: "When the mind is captured by a sense of scarcity, we become more focused and efficient." It reminds me of the Pomodoro Technique , setting an alarm for a minimum unit of 25 minutes, making sure that during this period Time uninterrupted to complete an important event. You can also use this method to practice reading, practice concentration, wait for a pomodoro clock to be completed, and then take a 5-10 minute break according to your needs, or even longer. The point is to stay focused when the pomodoro clock starts. outside interference. This is the benefit of scarcity, allowing you to do your work more efficiently, what the author calls the focus bonus. Conversely, a sense of scarcity can also push you into the abyss...

 Scarcity reduces cognitive bandwidth—it makes us less insightful, less forward-thinking, and less in control.

tunnel effect

Imagine that today is sunny and sunny, you and your family travel happily, the scenery is infinitely beautiful and the sight is wide. After entering the tunnel, the field of vision is instantly reduced, there is no blue sky and white clouds, and there is no surrounding mountains. The revolving interest rate of credit loans is so high, why do some people always fail to see the truth and are willing to put their feet in the hot pool, and they are chased by huge interest every month. Day after day, the debt is getting higher and higher, so The opposite direction makes the snowball roll bigger and bigger? This is the tunnel effect. When you can’t pay the rent tomorrow and you’re about to be kicked out by your landlord, borrowing has become your redemption to solve this tricky matter, even though you have to pay 15% recurring interest in the future, it’s not so scary anymore.

Another example. In April 2005, a fire broke out in the United States, and a firefighter Hunter was killed after he was on duty. You might think that the fire was too big to control and that Hunton was killed in the line of duty, but it was a blow to the head that killed him. It turned out that when rushing to the fire, the fire truck made a big turn, the left rear door suddenly opened, Hunter fell out, his head hit the sidewalk, and he was pronounced dead two days later. Why isn't he wearing a seat belt? Because firefighters have to arrive at the scene in the shortest time, they are short of time. In this extremely short period of time, they need to dress, confirm the building structure of the fire site, fire fighting procedures, etc., so it is not a top priority to fasten seat belts. Deprivation trapped them in a tunnel effect, focusing only on fighting the fire, making Hunt's death an avoidable tragedy.

We always think that we can think in all aspects, but when time is urgent, money is in short supply, and the feeling of scarcity will unknowingly lead us to make wrong decisions.

 Single-minded thinking can cause us to ignore what we really think is valuable.

cognitive bandwidth

Willpower is exhausted. Wake up in the morning, open the closet, what should I wear today? Putting on this white shirt, I suddenly thought that I might get dirty if I have a hot pot dinner with my colleagues tonight. You take off that white shirt and put on this black T-shirt. The narrow skirt and this black T-shirt you just matched Shirts don't match anymore, now I have to think about what to choose. After half an hour, ootd settled the case. With a happy mood, go to the breakfast shop, the menu is full of dazzling, you want to eat everything. What about omelettes? Or a sandwich? The burgers seem to be pretty good too. alright! Just the omelette! Want a cheese omelet or a tuna omelet?

From morning to night, we start making decisions. But cognitive bandwidth can be exhausted, resulting in poorer decision-making power the later in the day. When I got home tired, the child was playing with toys and making noises. You've been making decisions all day, and when you get home, you've lost control of yourself, you can't help yelling, and you wake up regretting your actions. Many, many times, we always regret after making a decision. Because we do not take full advantage of cognitive bandwidth, when it is weakened, we do things we regret.

From Jobs to Zuckerberg, they always wear the same outfit when they make public appearances, knowing that cognitive bandwidth affects their decision-making. By reducing the number of decisions they need to make each day, they can use good decision-making for more important things and make fewer mistakes. Learning minimalism might help you. There are fewer things, and the opportunity to choose becomes lower, and it can also ensure that your cognitive bandwidth will not be used up early.

 Your scarcity stems from mistakes you made during times of abundance.

Understanding the strengths and weaknesses of scarcity can make you more efficient at work and more accurate in your decision-making.
May we all master our cognitive bandwidth, not fall into the trap of tunnel effect, and delusionally be able to buy regret medicine...