
Coveting possessions is unhealthy. - mgunes
http://jackcheng.tumblr.com/post/200367929/coveting-possessions-is-unhealthy-heres-how-i
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philwelch
"I have the world's largest collection of seashells. I keep it on all the
beaches of the world... perhaps you've seen it. " --Steven Wright

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mathgladiator
That reminds me of a joke of how a mathematicians catches a lion.

"You see, I go and find the lion and I put a fence around myself. Then I
define the area near me to be the outside."

A obvious exploit of jordan curve theorem; tee hee.

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philk
Awesome, I'd like to take one of my Lamborghinis for a spin.

Oh, wait, I can't, because I don't actually own any.

Paul Graham's Stuff essay (<http://www.paulgraham.com/stuff.html>) makes the
case for not worrying about possessions far better than this hilariously bad
analogy.

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mynameishere
If their market was as liquid as, say, shares of Berkshire Hathaway (current
price: 121,000 dollars) then you could easily buy one in the morning, sell it
in the afternoon and likely lose only the transaction cost.

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varjag
Unless you crash it.

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borism
crash what?

BRK.A is a terrible liquidity example.

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varjag
Crash a Lamborghini.

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clearf
I've started trying to enforce conservation of clothing. If I acquire a free
shirt, or have the "need" to buy something like a jacket, I will eject an
older jacket from my inventory. It's a nice way to try to combat the endowment
effect.

I've known for about a year that I was going to move November 2010, so that
made me take a hard look at my possessions and what I had, and caused me to
get rid of a lot. I've just moved with a suitcase and a few boxes, plus some
boxes of books and camping stuff. Other than some electronics, I haven't taken
any of my clothes out of the boxes, and I haven't needed them yet. I'm
thinking about chucking them.

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wyclif
My rule of thumb is that I look at if I've used it within the past month (with
the exception of seasonal use things like camping equipment or winter clothes)
and if I haven't, it goes.

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protomyth
If you don't normally wear them, remember to keep the emergency suit (although
in a weird sort of way you could call that seasonal).

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Arun2009
You look at things differently when you consider that for most of us, stuff
costs us our liberty.

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tomjen3
Bullshit, possessions allow you to have more liberty, because they allow you
to do more in shorter time than you would otherwise be able to.

What ends us costing you your liberty is being stuff you can't afford with no
plan to be able to buy it later. "because I am worth it" cost you your freedom

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ShabbyDoo
I suspect Arun was referring not to the efficient use of "stuff" but rather
the irrational desire to own/control stuff rather than simply make use of it
in the supply chain. It would be absurd to hand launder one's everyday
clothing instead of making use of a washing machine. However, it might not be
rational to own one's own washing machine when a laundromat or laundry service
(fluff n' fold, etc.) could be used instead. Many people irrationally desire
to own stuff and might opt for a washer in their homes when it would actually
increase their net happiness level to just go to the laundromat or pay someone
to do the wash.

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aw3c2
blogspam, source is <http://www.metafilter.com/65284/Collect-em-all#1862024>

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joshrule
It's a great analogy if for no other reason than that it frees your mind to
think about more important things than stuff.

If we keep at hand only what we regularly need, and put the rest 'in storage',
we'll probably be able to spend a lot more time doing the things we actually
want to get done.

Take advantage of the division of labor and let someone else curate your stuff
for you. Go do something interesting.

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Herring
Can we not criticize the analogy this time, guys?

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TGJ
Wanting something for nothing is unhealthy. Wanting something and earning it
is rewarding.

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drblast
There's got to be a happy medium here. I don't want to be owned by my stuff,
but I also think that anyone who says that material things can't make you
happy hasn't owned a Mustang GT or a Fender Stratocaster.

If you don't have either of those things, then I think you're right to covet
them. :-)

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nhangen
I like the style, just not the execution.

Nothing wrong with having stuff...nothing wrong with wanting it.

I'll live frugally when I'm dead.

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anamax
Resenting other people's possessions is worse.

