thinking about money

Hello intersectional thinkers 👋

Greetings from Tokyo!

This week’s line up:
💰 Jay Z on doubling your money with art
⚖ Protegoras on a study-now-pay-later scheme
💸 Greeks, Romans, and Victorians on leisure (and its relation to money)

Let’s get it!

1 unexpected intersection

Jay Z’s “Moment of Clarity” was playing in this vibing vintage shop on Cat Street in Harajuku, and I heard him say:

I dumb down for my audience and double my dollars
They criticize me for it yet they all yell "Holla"
If skills sold truth be told
I'd probably be lyrically Talib Kweli
Truthfully I want to rhyme like Common Sense (But I did five Mil)
I ain't been rhyming like Common since

What do you think?

Does it make sense to give up your creative direction in the short term to reach more people with your art in the long term (and make more $$$ while doing it)?

1 paradox

Protegoras of Abdera was “one of the most important sophists” of ancient Greece. Sophists, in a nutshell, are private tutors who instructed aspiring Greek youths for a sizeable fee.¹

Protagoras contemplating his paradox?

One such youth was especially bright: Euathlus.

[Couldn’d find a photo of him so please use your imagination - think studious and cheeky]

Euathlus was undeniably promising in law and rhetoric, but his working class family didn’t have the funds to pay for a teacher. So Protagoras, confident in the student’s potential, offered a Study-Now-Pay-Later scheme:

Euathlus can study for free, and only has to pay if he wins his first court case.

With Protegoras’s generous guidance, Euathlus became a master of rhetoric and law.

Applying his knowledge to his own life, Euathlus identified the loophole in his payment terms: if he doesn’t take on any cases, he doesn’t have to pay Protegoras.

So Euthalos decided to enter politics.

Protegoras, outraged by his student’s betrayal, brings out plan B: take Euathlus to court.

Protegoras argued with a smirk: Whether I win or lose, Euathlus will have to pay me.

If I win, the court will instruct Euthalos to pay me.

If I lose, it means Euathlus wins his first court case, ergo Euathlus has to pay me.

Aha!

But the student learnt from the best. Euathlus brings out his counterargument with a smirk:

But teacher, it is I who will not pay, regardless of whether I win or lose:

If I win, the course will instruct that no payment is necessary.

If I lose, by default I will not have won my first case, so no payment is necessary.

This is the Protagoras paradox.

1 Visual Zettelkasten

The English word school comes from the Greek word schole, meaning leisure.

What?

vicky zhao 🚢 @beeamp_vicky

Daily Visual Zettelkasten: on leisure #draw30for30 "Schole" in Greek meant leisure: having philosophical discussions without being rushed. Greek leisure is truth-oriented. But today, philosophical debates don't seem so leisurely. Why? ↓

Have a great week!

Vicky

1. One might argue Sophism is having a renaissance with today’s booming online education?