Tag: blo

Lamma Island

~ Jeff A. Wang ~ 1 Comment

Today my friends and I visited a small island off the coast of Hong Kong Island, called Lamma Island.

It was cute and very quaint. Although it did seem like a place more fit for tourists, it still had a very local vibe. The island is primarily a fishing village and has multicultural diverse communities.

We had very fresh seafood (caught that afternoon) and walked along a path through the island through forests.

Visiting Lamma was a nice fresh perspective from the busy buzzing Hong Kong city.

These types of trips are exactly what I get very excited about.

I don’t need big fancy cars, luxury items or shopping, or expensive restaurant meals to have a good time.

Just me and my friends, enjoying the island, enjoying the water, enjoying the food, and talking philosophy too of course.

Great day overall.67718570_652822358554833_5787748712335802368_n.jpg67095738_1907949242639665_7937657844331970560_n.jpg

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Money

~ Jeff A. Wang ~ Leave a comment

Modern money has no intrinsic value

and I think that makes it the most fascinating case study ever

The USD is the global reserve currency and 60% of world transactions are dealt in USD

That’s crazy

The USD is backed by US.

But if the country’s economy fails, like Venezuela, Ecuador, or Zimbabwe, then the currency also fails. Zimbabwe now uses the USD after their currency fell to a value of zero. Now you can get 100 trillion dollar Zimbabwe bills on eBay for roughly $80

Money has value not intrinsically, but universally is accepted as valuable because of a universal trust

This is the reason a lot of things in our world exists

Communities, religions, brands, Bitcoin and all cryptocurrencies

Even the local bar you go to, which might not intrinsically be better than the pub two doors over, will garner more people if there is a higher perceived trust of value

Certain parts of India don’t accept the 10 rupee coin because it is perceived as non-legit, despite being fully and legitimately backed by the Central Bank of India

psychologically, we want to tag along on what everyone else uses

and that’s why money is valuable: because we all deem it to be

But what if one day we don’t?

That is why money is so interesting. It is a platform for power, but also a platform subject to collapse

We have a soul

~ Jeff A. Wang ~ Leave a comment

How do we know we have souls?

There are many theories and ways to arriving to an answer

But I think the most compelling response to why we have souls?

We love the dead.

We love past the physical body.

It’s not something we see

The soul is a feeling

 

P.S. I published another “The Jawesome Life” podcast.

Check it out on Spotify/Apple Podcasts/Overcast. It’s called “Life is a Grocery Store”

I Appreciate You.

I’m not ready

~ Jeff A. Wang ~ Leave a comment

Tomorrow my friend is driving us back to Villanova… 

A 7-hour drive. Thanks Philip.

But I’m not ready to go back and leave these vacation days. I’m not ready to go back into reality, to school, to my life where everything becomes more consequential.

But I’ve been reading this book called The Art of Possibility

It’s written by Ben Zander, who is the conductor of the Boston Philhamonic, and his wife, Rosamund Stone Zander.

Using music as their metaphor, the Zander’s taught me this important rule when it comes to approaching not only musical performance, but also life: Rule Number 6.

And Rule Number 6 says to “Don’t take yourself too seriously”

I think I really could have used that lesson when I was in high school. When I played violin, every missed note and every mistake to me seemed like a catastrophe. Getting a B on a test was blasphemous to my morals. And of course, I was heartbroken after not getting into my dream university.

But here I am. None of that matters to me now. Why did I need to take myself so seriously at the age of 17?

I’m 19 now, and I need to still actively practice this lesson. 

I recently did very poorly on my marketing test, and it’s probably a first for me for getting such a low grade on an exam. But I spent no more than 30 minutes sulking. And moved on.

And tomorrow, even though I am going back to school, back to this reality of life that I am consciously afraid of, I think I just need to apply Rule Number 6. Don’t take myself so seriously.

Vacations are great. Reality is also great, if you can learn to not take everything so seriously. (Obviously, some things that ARE serious need to be taken seriously).

But ask yourself: will this matter to you in 5 years?

If the answer is no, then don’t spend more than 30 minutes feeling regretful about it.

It’s time to go back to reality. 

This time, it won’t feel as stressful as before, because reality to me isn’t that serious. It’s life. And I intend to enjoy it.

Oh, and what are the other rules? There are none!