This article strikes me as a bit of orientalism used to pimp a personal finance blog, but I guess it strikes a chord with some folks.
To be specific:
1. These aren’t philosophies, they are words. The ideas behind these words exist in other cultures as well — they aren’t unique to Japan. If one really wants to push the point that the Japanese version of these ideas are actually different (I could see an argument for that), the difference is not reflected at all in the article.
2. Related to 1, I don’t think that these ideas/“philosophies” are particularly prominent in modern day Japan. Maybe… maybe in some circles, but I don’t think that these ideas broadly represent the current zeitgeist.
Maybe I’m just too cynical about the personal finance blog genre, but I don’t appreciate the author co-opting a rich culture in such a vapid way.
Western philosophies that’ll help you spend money consciously:
1. Contentment
2. Asceticism
3. Frugality
4. Sustainability
5. Etc
Sure, there may be something specific to the Japanese thought that is actually different from the Western ideas, but that article looks like a list of quite banal things wrapped in a Magical Asian trope. (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/MagicalAsian)
Totally agree with you. I remember reading somewhere (maybe on HN) that Japan is an extremely consumerist society. I don't know how true that is but, like anywhere, some are going to be more conscientious than others and I've heard all these same ideas on western blogs.
One of the Japanese textbooks I read long ago had a survey with on Japanese ppl for the question:what is the meaning of life. I think 25% of all answers was: possessing a lot of things.
I didn't see the author explicitly state how prominent these philosophies are, nor that they are unique, he just made a list of them. I think you are being very cynical in that regard.
Lately, as I've started to feel secure that I have much more than I may ever need, my problem now is that I've also come to realize that I want very few things in my life. I want to want but I think most things are completely worthless.
I'm flabbergasted by the author's problems. They struggle with wanting... tea cups? A lamp? What on earth are they talking about?
it won't even make a difference to his finances that he used a coke bottle as a vase. he just enjoys the feeling of restraining himself from buying trivially inexpensive things. maybe he could get a good return if he did that for big-ticket items - "yeah i just stuffed old clothes into some amazon boxes and that's my sofa."
Intent matters. Buying a floor lamp just because it looks good in IKEA catalogue seems misguided. However, I find floor lamps extremely effective at creating a cozy relaxing ambiance (cold overhead LEDs are the worst). Luckily, it doesn’t require much beyond a good old incandescent bulb and some secure holder for it.
Why would you do that I don't know, but for me personally the reason is that LEDs tend to strobe (sometimes noticeably to peripheral vision) and do not emit a smooth continuous spectrum—unlike incandescent bulbs, they produce a narrow, spiky spectrum[0] and objects in your room may look unnatural as they reflect it[1]; this may be especially bad with some RGB LEDs but fundamentally is a property of all LED lights because physics.
So this friend of mine, peak performance oriented and into brain science, approached neurobiofeedback as part of it. He visited professionals who used an electroencephalograph for the purpose. The technician told him that recently they could not make it work properly, at apparently random times, and had to carry on diagnostic in the typical perplexing mystery. Turned out that when the artificial lights were on, suddenly, the EEG misbehaved, since a number of days. And exactly, since he placed LED lightbulbs in the lamp. They created interference with the EEG equipment.
Lightbulbs that interfere with the functioning of an EEG...
Hint and advice: to assess the "strobing" property of those LED lamps, look at them through a camera, such as that of a mobile phone: you will see different rates of flicker which will help assessing the product quality.
Sure. That was a "moreover". But the link is that, from the possible silver-bullety initial idea of "aproblematic", the first (flicker) is a first breach of that idea and an "initial warning", which opens to the second (EMI)... In the realm of ideas and assumptions about the world, not in that of physics.
I mean...what mood is red light for? When you want to feel like a reptile basking in a terrarium?
I’m on team having many light fixtures with dimmable warm light LED bulbs—adjust the mood via intensity and number of fixtures turned on (so to speak).
The linked post is the useless info here. The dude randomly picked 3 words that come up in conversations sometimes and decided there’s an ancient widespread philosophy around them, then spouted it on his blog.
Japanese people are the kings of throwing perfectly good stuff away and replacing it. They build their houses to last 20ish years, and a lot of them buy EVERYTHING at the dollar store.
They have no right to spread information like that either. Rahul Chowdhury is the culprit here in all honesty. It seems though, you want to be witty and post a response that honestly seems against a certain culture, the 'American' culture. Let YC remove the link if it feels justified but you adding onto it makes it get more attention with the comments, doesn't it?
"Whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent." - Ludwig Wittgenstein
Fancy business terms that'll help you spend money consciously:
1. Return on ROI: will I use this enough to get my money back
2. BATNA: is there something I can use that is an alternative (yes, I know not exact definition)
3. Opportunity Cost: what else can I buy with this. As I am writing this comment I am thinking to myself "a croissant and latte every morning, or sushi once a week"
4. Time value of money: is this saving me enough time to be worth it
"Best alternative to a negotiated agreement" (BATNA) is from 'Getting to Yes: Negotiating Agreement Without Giving In', Fisher, et al. The idea is that you want to be aware of what your options before entering a negotiation.
The opportunity cost is something that should be taught to all people, it is a powerful concept that can help people think straight. Everything else in your list is actually just a particular application of it.
Not sure how the second example of buying a shiny new wallet is different from the first example of buying a shiny new cup. Seems like a better example for “wabi-sabi” would be continuing to use a wallet even after one of the flaps breaks, as long as the other flaps hold what you need them to.
Maybe the examples given were not perfect. But in the first example they were talking about buying cups when they already had enough of them. This wisdom focuses on not buying extra.
The second example was about buying a wallet just because their wallet was a bit warn out. This wisdom focuses on appreciating the beautiful of worn out items. And perhaps that relates more to Kintsugi.
There are many ways for one to try to get contentment to make for all the frustration in one's life. Buying stuff you don't need is one of the most common, least harmful for an individual and most harmful for the planet.
In the western world consumerism is taught: "the idea that increasing the consumption of goods and services purchased in the market is always a desirable goal and that a person's wellbeing and happiness depend fundamentally on obtaining consumer goods and material possessions." (definition from investopedia)
I got into Confucius (Analects), Mencius, Lao Tzu (Tao Te Ching) and Zuangzi (aka Chuang Tzu) as a teenager. They're the giants of ancient Chinese philosophy, all very readable. After that I got into western philosophy, but I'm so glad I started with immersion in the Chinese classics.
To be specific:
1. These aren’t philosophies, they are words. The ideas behind these words exist in other cultures as well — they aren’t unique to Japan. If one really wants to push the point that the Japanese version of these ideas are actually different (I could see an argument for that), the difference is not reflected at all in the article.
2. Related to 1, I don’t think that these ideas/“philosophies” are particularly prominent in modern day Japan. Maybe… maybe in some circles, but I don’t think that these ideas broadly represent the current zeitgeist.
Maybe I’m just too cynical about the personal finance blog genre, but I don’t appreciate the author co-opting a rich culture in such a vapid way.