Man In the car paradox — Morgan Housel
- The author was a valet in a hotel, he was lucky to drive luxury cars of guests who came in. He used to drive Lamborghinis, Mercedes, Rolls Royce, and many other luxurious cars.
- The author dreams of having those cars.
- He thought that he would send strong signals to people around him that he is very cool, intelligent, smart, and wise and people will give him attention.
- But the author says there is irony in this because people will rarely think “Wow, the guy driving the car is very smart” instead they will think “If I had this car I would look cool”. People imagine themselves in it. Yes, that’s how people usually think.
- So here is a paradox. People want attention, they should be admired and liked.
- And the reality is that people do bypass admire. No doubt, wealth is admirable but people use your wealth as a benchmark of their desire to get attention.
- So because of this, the author wrote a letter to his son expressing that he doesn’t need those supercars, the thing he needs the most is respect and admiration. And that stuff would never bring that level of respect and admiration for you.
- So as a valet the author used to gawk a lot at people who drove their cars, and those who drove it tended to think that the author is would be admiring him or her.
- But they don’t know nobody cares or even notices them. People only imagine themselves in that.
- The author wondered, `Do they think that people are going to admire them for that?
- And somehow these things apply to all expensive luxury including jewelry, clothes(branded ones), and big bungalows.
- Now some of you would think “Shouldn’t we buy that?” or “What about dreams?”. So first of all the author likes both things but he is trying to say that these are unnoticeable recognition, Don’t buy it for the sake of money, buy it if you need it. If respect and admiration is your goal, be careful while buying these because humility, kindness, and empathy will buy you more respect than these fancy cars ever will.
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