The other day, I came cross this German sentence:

Wenn du und ich jeweils einen Apfel haben und wir diese Äpfel tauschen, dann haben wir noch immer jeweils einen Apfel. Wenn du und ich aber jeweils einen Gedanken haben und wir diese Gedanken tauschen, dann hat jeder von uns zwei Gedanken.

It’s translated into English as:

If you and I each have an apple and we trade those apples, we still have an apple each. But if you and I each have one thought and we exchange these thoughts, then each of us has two thoughts.

I didn’t know who had said this. Googled and found it was by George Bernard Shaw.

Excellent thoughts!

Now let’s see what we can learn from it.

Apfel and Apple

In the case of exchanging apples, if the apples are exactly the same, then the exchange makes absolutely no difference to you and me. Are we both crazy to exchange exactly the same apple? What for? We can say that two apples are hardly the same, even if they are of the same type, one can be more sweet than the other, or softer than the other, or whatever. In the case of one being sweeter, we couldn’t tell before or after the exchange (unless we also exchange a bite), so we are again making an exchange for nothing. In the case of one being softer, we could get a feel about it and if you prefer softer ones and I harder ones, then it’s worthwhile for us to make a trade. In the case of the apples being of different types, say a gala and a golden delicious, an Apfel and an apple, or perhaps a gala and an iPhone 4, if you and I prefer one from the other, then our exchange benefits both of us, satisfies our needs and so is valuable.

Such a beneficial exchange, despite fulfilling our satisfactions and desires, still leaves us with two apples and no further opportunities. To do further, each of us has to produce another apple needed by the other. This is the most fundamental economic activities throughout history.

Gedanke and Thought

Thoughts are wonderful. When you exchange a thought, you don’t lose hold of the original one! Two thoughts are always better than one for a philosopher, but how can that be for an ordinary person who doesn’t consume a thought directly? Now let’s do some evaluation.

Say each of our thoughts allows the creation of a business valued at $100K. After our exchange, you and I each can create two businesses, but each of the four businesses will be valued at $50K (due to competitions between us), but still each of us has businesses of $50K + $50K = $100K.

The exchange doesn’t increase the value, why do we want to do it?

The great thing is, for an open-minded person, a thought doesn’t stop there. A thought begets new thoughts. Say from one thought each of us could come up with two new thoughts. Without the exchange, each of us has the one old thought plus two new thoughts. Say a thought is again worth $100K. After the first round (of thought regeneration), each of us would be worth $300K. Together we are worth $600K.

With the exchange (of the old thoughts), each of us has two old thoughts plus four new thoughts. An old thought is now worth $50K but a new thought $100K. After the first round, each of us would be worth $100 + $400K = $500K. Together, we are worth $1 million.

And the thought creation and exchange can go on to infinite rounds.

So these are the power from the teaching of George Bernard Shaw.

Gedanke and thought vs Apfel and apple

Undeniably, the exchange of goods contributed to the advancement of civilizations. Through the ancient silk roads, the West got silk, spices etc. amd the East got horses, manufactured goods, etc. Due to the larger demands across the roads, economic activities in producing the goods accelerated resulting in living standards improved. This happened in gradual ways in history.

The benefits from goods production and exchange are linearly related to the amount of goods and exchanges. Whereas, as we learned from the above, the benefits from thought creation and exchange are exponentially related to the thoughts and exchanges.

We see from history revolutions resulting from thought progresses realized jumps in civilization advancements. It will continue in the future.

Gedanke and thought always trump Apfel and apple.

Investment advices

Invest in places where thought processes are highly esteemed, from creation, innovation to exchange.

Minimize allocations to places that are mostly focused on trade of goods.

Stay away from places where exchanges of thoughts are restricted in various ways.

Stay away from places that are close-minded.

Cheers! Santé! Prost!