Re:Ask HN: What talks or videos do you suggest to watch on a...
by PakG1 on Friday July 06, 2018 @09:39PM
(#17476362)
I'm being that pedantic guy now, but I think you misunderstand opportunity cost. The opportunity cost of eating food wouldn't be the negative consequences of eating food. Rather, it would be the negative consequences of not doing something else that you would have done if you hadn't been eating the food.
The easiest example is that the opportunity cost of going to university is 4 years of steady income. But students believe its worth it because the future income they'd receive instead is hopefully more than worth the opportunity cost.
Re:Ask HN: What talks or videos do you suggest to watch on a...
by coldtea on Saturday July 07, 2018 @07:24AM
(#17478049)
>I'm being that pedantic guy now, but I think you misunderstand opportunity cost. The opportunity cost of eating food wouldn't be the negative consequences of eating food. Rather, it would be the negative consequences of not doing something else that you would have done if you hadn't been eating the food.
Thanks, I know what opportunity cost is, I just digressed when I gave the example into a "too much of a good thing" case instead of "what else you could be doing in that time" case.
That's all well, but let's don't forget the opportunity cost.
One can enjoy anything, e.g. food, but then they get to 300 lbs and they look back, and say wtf did I let this happen?
So enjoyment alone is not a safe criterion...
>I have wasted a lot of time being busy (reading non-fiction, TED talks etc) that did not translate into any noticeable self improvement or progress in my life. I have feeling a lot of people makes that mistake too.
That's a valid point though. There's even a name for it "productivity porn".