The old man and the broken engine.

There was an interesting story that I read about recently. It was meant to convey a lesson to take home. Let’s call this story ‘The old man and the broken engine’. It goes something like this. There was an old mechanic who was called to fix a broken engine on a ship.

The old man then packs his trusty toolkit, heads over to the scene of the crime, talks to the ship’s owners and begins his investigation. After the owner’s had explained the problem, the old man nods his head and gets to work. He takes out his hammer, and after a few seconds, he locates the right area to tap and clank the engine is fixed.

The owners, who were skeptical at first, are delighted. They thank the old man and ask him to send an invoice for his work.

A few days later, they receive the invoice and are shocked by the ridiculous asking price. $10,000. They write the old man, demanding an itemized invoice. They couldn’t accept how they were expected to pay $10,000 for a few minutes of work.

The old man replies:

Tapping with a hammer: $2

Knowing where to Tap: $9,998

The obvious insight from this story is that the amount of effort you put into something doesn’t justify the value of the end product. This is pretty obvious for most people to see. You can easily imagine someone slaving away for hours only to make little no to progress, while a more capable, talented individual can solve the same problem in half the time and effort. It would make little sense to reward both the same amount.

This can be extended to recent events surrounding the mass displacement of labor. While many claim that immigration is the real issue and are pushing towards new anti-immigration policies, technology is the true displacer of labor.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lump_of_labour_fallacy

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2. Modern Man in Search of a Soul Summary (8/10)
3. Part 2: Stir Up The Transgressive and Taboo (The Art of Seduction)
4. Chapter 19: And They Lived Happily Every After (Sapiens)