Game in the Brain

Why Workers Are Losing the War Against Machines

The way wealth works is scary. Wealth plays to Loss Aversion, and that cognitive bias distorts the value of EVERYTHING. This is where the plus is not as valuable as a potential negative. As you prosper, the potential you can lose is distorted by Loss Aversion.

This makes wealthier people more worried and more stressed. The problem I have is that, this distorts opportunity costs and makes doing CRAP/Unethical things less of a moral dillema when we face Loss.

I admit that things are getting harder for my family and family business. I am migrating to IT so that I can leave the family business and enter into a fairly well compensating job. As a business owner I have TOO MANY CHOICES, of what to do. As an employee I only need to do what I’m told.

I may not have the money to protect my family as well as a wealthier person, BUT I am not distorted by the Loss Aversion of potentially losing the wealth my family has accumulated (which is not Mine to begin with).

If I was not Young and Stupid, I should have worked hard and Aced my BS math degree (specializing in computer science)… my very first course. If I did, I would have never ever had to worry as much as I worry now.

My parents got where they did, through Luck and Hard Work. Anyone can do hard work… luck is something else… something that makes us thing we are more special than others…

Construction and Real-Estate is a battle field that seeks Consolidation. One will be bigger and cheaper than the rest, having grown fat feeding off those who has gambled and failed. I want to get out of it, competition is so stark than Margins EXCEED the Margin of RISK of additional expenses.

When the Philippines grew 7.1% net of inflation I knew that maybe 1/100 of this growth was in JOBS. This means those who grew, where already rich. BPOs are dead end, it should only be a means to an end for a person to educate themselves and to incubate until the rest of the philippine economy grew to NEED them.

Engineers, Nurses, Technicians, used the BPO only to serve as a means until the economy grew a little more so that they will be needed again. I strongly believe this, and of course would do it if I could but thats the difference between me and being really rich… I have the freedom to think where to go… not go where my money tells me to go in order to protect it.

For my son to survive in this new world, he has to be IT and with the survival instinct of a person who can live outside the system. It is to master two worlds: the technological and the natural. So should I be if I hope to make sure he learns this.