Information wants to be expensive, Information wants to be free.
A classic dichotomy since before the Internet was born. Some knowledge are more valuable being held secret while others when free and shared by many. Today we can find unimaginably rich content online, answer any questions we have or didn’t know we have. How does that add value to our lives? If we needed a quick reference and end up spending hours tangled in the web, is that information free or expensive?
Time wants to be expensive, Time wants to be free.
We would use apps to find the best routes to save minutes off our commute, only to spend way more back on some other apps that we won’t remember later. Let’s shave the hour from commuting instead of minutes? Where would we reinvest the time while working from home?
Decisions want to be expensive, Decisions want to be free.
There is a relatively small number of important things in life and on people around us that deserve our deliberate attention, and we all have limited cognitive capacities. Yet we fight the system and spend our decision power on swiping left or right or deciding on what content to binge on. 50 notifications (emails, messaging, anything else) later, we are drained.
Thoughts want to be expensive, Thoughts want to be free.
First principle thinking is hard – that’s why our brains evolved into systems 1 and 2 for complex and automatic thinking. Our default though, from evolution, is the path of least resistance. There are recommendations for everything and experts on every field. Why do I have to think? Just search (or ask)? There is safety in numbers and we don’t need to be different. Ask enough “what is” and “how to” and we think less about the “why” and alternatives.
It’s easy to forward and so everyone does it. It’s harder and riskier to think and write so less people do it. Ultimately our own thoughts and choices define who we are and the impact we seek to make. And it is like a muscle that we either build or lose. We all know more than we think – what makes a difference is what we do with it.
