I find super-rich people’s level of rationality specifically interesting, because, unless they are heirs or entertainment, it takes quite a bit of instrumental rationality to ‘get there’. Nevertheless it seems many of them do not make the same deductions as Buffett, which seem pretty clear:
My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest. Both my children and I won what I call the ovarian lottery. (For starters, the odds against my 1930 birth taking place in the U.S. were at least 30 to 1. My being male and white also removed huge obstacles that a majority of Americans then faced.)
My luck was accentuated by my living in a market system that sometimes produces distorted results, though overall it serves our country well. I’ve worked in an economy that rewards someone who saves the lives of others on a battlefield with a medal, rewards a great teacher with thank-you notes from parents, but rewards those who can detect the mispricing of securities with sums reaching into the billions. In short, fate’s distribution of long straws is wildly capricious.
In this sense they are sort of ‘natural experiments’ of cognitive biases at work.
My wealth has come from a combination of living in America, some lucky genes, and compound interest. Both my children and I won what I call the ovarian lottery. (For starters, the odds against my 1930 birth taking place in the U.S. were at least 30 to 1. My being male and white also removed huge obstacles that a majority of Americans then faced.)
My luck was accentuated by my living in a market system that sometimes produces distorted results, though overall it serves our country well. I’ve worked in an economy that rewards someone who saves the lives of others on a battlefield with a medal, rewards a great teacher with thank-you notes from parents, but rewards those who can detect the mispricing of securities with sums reaching into the billions. In short, fate’s distribution of long straws is wildly capricious.
Wow. That is some seriously clear thinking. Too bad Mr. Buffet isn’t here to get the upvote himself, so I upvoted you instead. ;-)
I think in Buffett’s case this is not an accident; I venture to claim that his wealth is a result of fortune combining with an unusual doze of rationality (even if he calls it ‘genes’). My strongest piece of evidence is that his business partner for the past 40 years, Charlie Munger, is one of the very early outspoken adopters of the good parts of modern psychology, such as ideas of Cialdini and Tversky/Kahneman and decision-making under uncertainty.
Oh wow, I think I have a new role model. Any chance we can get these two (Buffet and Munger) to open a rationality dojo? (Who knows, they might be impressed, given that most people ask them for wealth advice instead...)
Message from Warren Buffett to other rich Americans
http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/15/news/newsmakers/Warren_Buffett_Pledge_Letter.fortune/index.htm?postversion=2010061608
I find super-rich people’s level of rationality specifically interesting, because, unless they are heirs or entertainment, it takes quite a bit of instrumental rationality to ‘get there’. Nevertheless it seems many of them do not make the same deductions as Buffett, which seem pretty clear:
In this sense they are sort of ‘natural experiments’ of cognitive biases at work.
Wow. That is some seriously clear thinking. Too bad Mr. Buffet isn’t here to get the upvote himself, so I upvoted you instead. ;-)
I think in Buffett’s case this is not an accident; I venture to claim that his wealth is a result of fortune combining with an unusual doze of rationality (even if he calls it ‘genes’). My strongest piece of evidence is that his business partner for the past 40 years, Charlie Munger, is one of the very early outspoken adopters of the good parts of modern psychology, such as ideas of Cialdini and Tversky/Kahneman and decision-making under uncertainty.
http://vinvesting.com/docs/munger/human_misjudgement.html
Oh wow, I think I have a new role model. Any chance we can get these two (Buffet and Munger) to open a rationality dojo? (Who knows, they might be impressed, given that most people ask them for wealth advice instead...)