Animal Spirits and Over Extended Markets
By
Cognitive Dissonance
Animal spirits is the term John Maynard Keynes used in his 1936 book “The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money” to describe the instincts, proclivities and emotions that ostensibly influence and guide human behavior, and which can be measured in terms of, for example, consumer confidence. It has since been argued that trust is also included in or produced by "animal spirits". – Wikipedia
Voltaire is alleged to have said "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize." Those are wise words indeed and the subject of a future article. For now, though, I wish to modify Voltaire slightly to express my own point of view.
“To learn what controls us, simply find out what we don’t wish to discuss…at least not directly.” – Cognitive Dissonance
I attempt to view us silly humans as would a space alien orbiting Earth in order to observe our terminal insanity from a safe distance. While I freely admit disassociating myself from everyone else is nearly impossible (I can’t just flip a switch and stop thinking like a deeply conditioned and biased human) I still give it the old college try. If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.
Or to quote Einstein, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting different results.”
I just love that one. Continue reading Animal Spirits and Over Extended Markets
