Scarcity

Notes

Scarcity is the idea that some things in life, if not all, are a sort of a Zero sum game. That we can't "have it all", and we must prioritize between what's important and what's not. It can be between people, for example two people who are competing for the same job, and it can be within people, for example choosing how to spend your evening.

Some say that scarcity is the source for creativity and efficiency, because if we had all the resources in the world, if we would have lived forever, than what's the point in trying to do something better? What's the rush? It is precisely because scarcity serves as a type of limit that it gives urgency and meaning to our decisions.

Similarly, scarcity is also what provides meaning to our lives. We can only do so much, be so much, that our choices have weights, every decisions has to be considered vs the Alternative cost of not making it, or choosing something else. Every moment is fleeting, and there's only so little time on this earth, so every moment is potentially imbued with meaning because time passed is lost forever. We only need to choose wisely. It pushes us towards Proactiveness and intentionality, and forces us to say no to things we might like, but are not worth it considering what we lose by choosing them.

Ask yourself - what is the most important thing right now? What's worth investing time, energy or other resource in?

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Overview

🔼Topic:: Economics (MOC) 🔼Topic:: Creativity (MOC) ↩️Origin:: 🔗Link::