š Did this one remind you of FOMO (fear of missing out)? And have you heard of
JOMO?
š This is a
great write up on how De Beers manipulated supply and demand to make diamonds āappear scarce and inherently valuableā to drive their market.
I have to include this
story from a voyage of Captain Cook:
In the 18th century, the specter of scurvyāa disease caused by a lack of vitamin Cāloomed over every long distance sea voyage. Cook, however, managed to keep all three of his expeditions nearly scurvy-free. This was partially because of his obsession with procuring fresh food at each of his stops, but many have also credited his good fortune to an unlikely source: sauerkraut.
While Cook didnāt know the cure or cause of scurvy, he did know that the nutrient-rich pickled cabbage seemed to keep the disease at bay, so he brought several tons of it on his voyages.
His only problem was getting his crew to eat it. To trick them, Cook simply had sauerkraut ādressed every dayā for the officersā table. When the enlisted men saw their superiors eating it, they assumed it was a delicacy and requested some for themselves.
In this case, scarce was actually valuable!
š§ Ā Build your latticework! RevisitĀ related mental models: