4/29/2024: What Never Changes
I recently read the book Same as Ever: A Guide to What Never Changes by Morgan Housel. Housel is also the author of The Psychology of Money, which is an excellent book. Like his previous book, this book is filled with wisdom. Nothing in this book is groundbreaking but it’s a great summary of thinking about our world in a larger context. Namely, in a world that is rapidly changing by technology, what doesn’t change? I don’t want to give away too much about what he said in this book because it’s worth a read from cover to cover. But let’s just say humans are humans. Technology could keep progressing but humans are still prejudiced, impatient, driven by envy and easily manipulated. Humans have a hard time dealing with ambiguities but the world is unpredictable and full of surprises.
A lot of things are simple but hard. People know they should live frugally, save and invest for the long run but most people can't follow this advice and end up wasting money on things they don’t need and panic selling investments at the bottom. I know I need to stop scrolling through my Twitter or YouTube feed aimlessly for 5+ times a day but I couldn’t stop. I know I need to stop eating processed food and start weight lifting. I know I need to write more thoughtful and deep posts, do my taxes a month before it’s due, clear out all the junk in my closet and stop buying random shit. But here I am, being a predictable flawed human. I can’t follow my own advice half of the time. But I am not alone. I am just like 99.99% of humans. Understanding how humans behave consistently is the key to understanding our world. Some of the human behaviors will never change and Housel’s Same as Ever is a great summary of what they are. I highly recommend this very well-written and informative book.