It has become exceedingly obvious that the BEST toy is always the toy some other kid has, usually your brother. Nicholas could walk right by a toy, but as soon as Nathan begins playing with it, he needs it and he needs it NOW. Nate isn't as bad yet, but he's getting there.The funny thing is, nothing will cause a child to wnt to hold on to a toy more than thinking his brother wants it.
I suppose this has something to do with supply and demand, and the value of a certain item. This broken toy car is of no value to me, except that my brother wants it. He must want it for some reason. It must be valuable, so I will hang on to it. Yes, in fact, he wants it very, very badly. I don't really want to play with this old broken thing, but look how much everyone else seems to want it. It must be very important to hold on to this. Until my brother realizes it is a broken toy, and then he doesn't want it anymore, and guess what? Neither do I. Because it is, after all, only a broken toy.
To my way of thinking, this explains Tulips in the 17th century, the stock market, and fads like Paris Hilton, Cabbage Patch dolls, and Beehive Hairdoos.
2 comments:
I think you are onto something there! Everything I ever needed to know about economics I learned in pre-school.
That's economics in it's most elemental & atavistic form -- you have had an epiphany
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