Just for Laughs - Why Silver is More Valuable Than Gold

Since I've been posting articles and little commentaries on the precious metals these last couple of days, I thought I'd slip this little light-hearted fable in as well which I stumbled across at this site.

Hope you enjoy it.

Cheers,

~K

Why Silver Is More Valuable Than Gold

There once lived a great mathematician in a village outside Ujjain. He was often called by the local king to advice on matters related to the economy. His reputation had spread as far as Taxila in the North and Kanchi in the South. So it hurt him very much when the village headman told him, "You may be a great mathematician who advises the king on economic matters but your son does not know the value of gold or silver."

The mathematician called his son and asked, "What is more valuable – gold or silver?" 

"Gold," said the son. 

"That is correct. Why is it then that the village headman makes fun of you, claims you do not know the value of gold or silver? He teases me every day. He mocks me before other village elders as a father who neglects his son. This hurts me. I feel everyone in the village is laughing behind my back because you do not know which is more valuable, gold or silver. Explain this to me, son."

So the son of the mathematician told his father the reason why the village headman carried this impression. 

He said, "Every day on my way to school, the village headman calls me to his house. There, in front of all village elders, he holds out a silver coin in one hand and a gold coin in other. He asks me to pick up the more valuable coin. I pick the silver coin. He laughs, the elders jeer, everyone makes fun of me. And then I go to school. This happens every day. That is why they tell you I do not know the value of gold or silver." 

The father was confused. His son knew the value of gold and silver, and yet when asked to choose between a gold coin and silver coin always picked the silver coin. 

"Why don't you pick up the gold coin?" he asked. 

In response, the son took the father to his room and showed him a box. In the box were at least a hundred silver coins. 

Turning to his father, the mathematician's son said, "The day I pick up the gold coin the game will stop. They will stop having fun and I will stop making money."

The bottom line is: Sometimes in life, we have to play the fool because our seniors and our peers, and sometimes even our juniors like it. That does not mean we lose in the game of life. It just means allowing others to win in one arena of the game, while we win in the other arena of the game. We have to choose which arena matters to us and which  arenas do not.

Resolutions for the New Year

Now there are more overweight people in America than average-weight people. So overweight people are now average...which means, you have met your New Year's resolution.
~ Jay Leno

Resolutions of the new year. Everybody has 'em. It's like if you didn't have any resolutions when someone asked, you'd be the odd one out. The crowd would point and stare, murmuring behind your back. They'd whisper, "Check him out. Mr. Perfect with no resolutions. Straight path to heaven he thinks he's on." Yeah, it'd be horrible.

However, as cliché as they seem, resolutions are good for some things though. For a start, they make really great conversation starters especially if it's that new person you've been dying to chat up. Talk about incentive to have some resolutions at your fingertips, ain't it? (Why? So that you don't come off as a bore when your crush asks you for yours and you stammer and say you don't have any, that's why. Conversation killer.) Oh, and don't forget the creativity. That's a plus point.

Resolutions like swearing off smoking, spending more time with the family, and hitting the 1 million dollar mark, just doesn't turn heads anymore. That is unless you really are going to hit the 1 million dollar mark. Instead, resolutions like "I will stop throwing water down the top floor of our school onto people passing by", "I will not let the dog hog the pillow, growl at me from the sofa and snatch the bun off my plate", "I will change the CD in my CD player", and my personal favourite, "I will do less laundry and use more deodorant" are sure to get some attention. You can check out more resolutions at Funny New Year Resolutions.

I wonder though if nobody asked what our resolutions were every year, how many of us would actually bother resolving to do anything? Which by the way could be another resolution on its own. "I resolve to make new year's resolutions from now on." Or, on the flipside, perhaps we'd resolve not to make any instead. Like so:

Case in point.

Heh, funnily enough, I was unintentionally nudged in the same direction after reading a couple of resolution postings from fellow bloggers I follow, which left me thinking about my own and jumping onto the bandwagon. 

Here's a list that I came up with after much deliberating.

1) I will sleep earlier from now on - 1am if I'm not working the next day, 11pm if I am.

2) I will drink more water - the necessary 8 glasses per day

3) I will make it a habit to read at least a half hour before bed every night.

4) I will run a marathon this year

5) I will exercise three times a week

6) I will be more patient and understanding with people

and the most challenging one of all: 

7) I will keep my room neat

That's quite a list isn't it? Wish me luck. I need all the resolve to see through these resolutions of mine. Pure grit. Check back again in a year to see how they went. It'll be surprise I swear. Even to me.

Where's the creativity in my resolutions you ask? Good question. But hey! I ain't looking to chat up anybody. =)

Enjoy the New Year everyone. 

With many more reasons to smile,

~K

P.S. As a treat, here are a couple more laughable resolutions to begin the new year:

How To Feel Richer - Take Time To Be Grateful For What We Have

"Christmas sale!"

"50% discount on selected items"

"What's on sale?" 

"How I wish that was on sale."

"Is it on sale?"

"Why can't it be on sale?"

"When is it ever going to be on sale?"

"OH LOOK! It's on SALE!"

What seems to be the festive greeting these days reminds me of a short story I wrote a long while back one day when I was bored on how consumerism has engulfed Christmas and transformed its intent.

Today however, while browsing through my email, I came across one with a deeper message on being grateful for what we have and to stop counting what we don't - a thought that left me pondering which reminded me of that story I wrote which then led to this post. Talk about being tangentially linked.

Taking time to be grateful for what we have. How many of us actually spend time doing that? It seems that we're too busy chasing after things that we want, only to enjoy it for a short while when we acquire the aim before chasing after the next. To achieve happiness we say. I get caught in the same trap too. But perhaps it would be easier to achieve happiness if we look back and see how far we've come, what we have and what we've achieved, what we've been blessed with - our state of being, our health, our family, friends etc. - and to take time to congratulate ourselves and enjoy their merits. It's a quick way to feel rich internally I feel, which is more important than simply concentrating on our exterior.

So I'm thankful for that email. A Christmas reminder that there's more to life than material pleasures. 

I feel like a millionaire already. Now let me check my wallet...

When's that sale again?

~K

P.S. Merry Christmas eve everyone. =)

Quantitative Easing Explained Hilariously

Confused about QE2? Don't be. This video will help clear any doubts.

Humour always helps learning.

~K

P.S. Special thanks to Hendra for sharing the video in the forum.