It is rare, but I had to go into a bank today, to get some help with my banking app. It has been quite annoying with this particular bank, because it only deals in Finnish and Swedish through their interfaces and when there are issues, it makes it hard. And then, because of various security protocols, I couldn't do this over the phone, but I think that is okay - considering. While inconvenient, it is generally convenience factors that lead to other problems.
Convenience is a tradeoff.
For instance, whilst I was waiting for my appointment at the bank (it is only by appointment at this bank now), I had a coffee - which was a small café latte - for the convenient price of €5.50 - that is 18 HIVE.
Worth it?
Not at all.
But I was thinking about how I price things in my head and how it affects the value of what it is. For instance, when I look at the value of posts in Hive, I look at them in HIVE, not in dollars. The dollar value of course affects it all, but since I am interested in building a HIVE position, that is what matters. But, if I were to look at other purchases in my life through the HIVE lens, would I be as comfortable paying for it? Would it affect me differently?
For instance, an average grocery shopping trip for us is around 140 in dollar value and this is every three days or so. That means that every month, it is about 1400 dollars at the supermarket alone, which translates into 4,242 HIVE per month on basic groceries. We aren't very fancy with what we buy, but that is almost a dolphin account a month. And this doesn't factor in the miscellaneous purchases, like the coffee in the picture, or when we eat out together as a family somewhere. If we go for sushi at a basic chain restaurant for instance, it is going to be about 210 HIVE.
If I had to transfer that out of my account to pay for dinner...
I wouldn't.
But, because it is coming out of my "euro" bank account from my job, it doesn't seem as bad. But, the effect is the same, right? If I was as discerning with spending euros as I am with spending HIVE, I would spend a hell of a lot less. Even though I am not transferring from Hive to pay for anything, these expenditures are limiting how much I can transfer into Hive.
This transfer direction matters. As while some people live off some percentage (or all) of their Hive, the potential for it to go up (in my opinion) is high, so there is a cost to the usage. Using 100 HIVE valued at 33 cents each now, means not being able to use the 100 Hive when it is valued at 3 dollars each. But, this works in reverse too, because buys a coffee for 18 HIVE worth of euros today, means not buying that HIVE which at the same 3 dollars, would be worth around 50 euros. That makes the potential cost of that coffee, very expensive.
Of course, we can't always think about things in the price of Hive, but converting what we spend or consume into other units of measure could help us decide whether we want to buy or not. For example;
Would you think differently about buying a Mars bar (standard size) if you were told it would take over an hour to burn off the energy? Now, this is where Augmented reality could come into play, where we could have a heads-up display giving us information on what kinds of decisions we are making, before we make them.
Would I have still bought the coffee
The more we are able to influence our decisions before we make them, the better we would be able to handle impulse control. At least, we would have a far greater sense of impact and have to actively make the decision, rather than it playing out on default. I predict we would consume far less if having this information was conveniently and readily available, without us having to do anything, except live through our lives like normal.
We are easily influenced into changing our consumer behaviors, as evidenced through advertising and social media manipulation of content and user interfaces, and this isn't going to change. However, we could make the influence healthier or at least, more tailored for our own goals, instead of to increase ad revenue profits.
I have always wished I could have a selection list of things I could turn on and off, where for instance, I could switch off my cravings for sugar, or turn on my desire to exercise. This might not be possible, but we might be able to improve our attempts to improve, if we design our world to influence us in ways that support us.
For instance, using AR glasses that overlay our world with the information and motivation that helps us make better decisions, or points out areas of opportunities, as they arise, rather than us only seeing them in hindsight, or not even realizing them at all.
Just imagine if we could load in a profile where we can set a goal like improved fitness, and it will make suggestions on what we are about to do, buy, consume. Or, if we say that we want to be more engaged in the world, it admonishes us when we bury our nose into the phone, or it points out things that we might be interested in, or people to engage with as we walk by living our lives.
Would you be influenced?
We don't see the costs of our lives, especially the opportunity cost of making one decision over another, until it is probably too late. If our default habits aren't there to support our goals, we are unlikely to reach them, because we aren't aware enough in the moment to make a different choice.
A lot rides on the choices we make in life, right?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
