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Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

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Re: Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

#21

Post by Xichekolas »

mberning wrote: post #14
Xichekolas wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"it is highly unlikely that you will achieve a fraction of the success of your more well funded peers" Just goes to show that the human psyche cares more about relative prosperity than absolute prosperity. This is well documented in research. Still, I have to question why you would prefer to be 'rich' in a place without running water rather than be 'poor' in America (where the poor people only have one TV and have to…

You seem to consider quality of life as something you can measure by material gain. Nobody cares about televisions and cars when they come down with cancer and can't afford treatment. Being rich in America is certainly great. Being poor in America is not that much different than being poor in the developing world, aside from the better hand-me-downs.

From this page (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/factsheets/fs310/en/index2.ht...) at the World Health Organization:

"In high-income countries more than two-thirds of all people live beyond the age of 70 and die of chronic diseases: cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive lung disease, cancers, diabetes or dementia. Lung infection remains the only leading infectious cause of death.

...

In low-income countries less than a quarter of all people reach the age of 70, and nearly a third of all deaths are among children under 14. Although cardiovascular diseases together represent the leading cause of death in these countries, infectious diseases (above all HIV/AIDS, lung infections, tuberculosis, diarrheal diseases and malaria) together claim more lives. Complications of pregnancy and childbirth together continue to be a leading cause of death, claiming the lives of both infants and mothers."

Still think that being poor in America is as terrible as being poor in the developing world? How many kids do you know of that die of diarrhea in America? I'm not saying either situation is a panacea, but seriously, everyone in this country won the 'ovarian lottery' just by being here.

Anyway, this is getting way off topic...

Re: Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

#22

Post by Xichekolas »

rms wrote: post #19
pchristensen wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm speechless. Now I finally understand why all of those poor Americans in makeshift boats are sailing to Cuba or south across the Rio Grande.

I think you guys missed the point of this downmodded guy's argument because he focused on the wrong thing. In the world economy today, if you're born poor, whether in America or the third world, you're not going to end up like Warren Buffett. It's impossible to go from the lower class to being an uber-capitalist.

You are probably right... I think all the opportunities to pull a Andrew Carnegie or Bill Gates or Sergey Brin/Larry Page in our current economy require education, (some) resources, and free time to tinker, which is really hard when you are living hand to mouth.

The ability to social climb probably requires several generations at this point. First getting into the middle class, then the upper middle class, then finally into the owner class. I still say it's possible, but yeah, it'd require a brilliant mind and a lot of luck to do it all in one leap.

Re: Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

#23

Post by tlrobinson »

"If you want a great business, take Coca-Cola. The product is unchanged, they sell 1.5 billion 8 ounce servings per day 122 years later."

1.5 BILLION servings of Coke a day?! That's 1 for every 4 humans on this planet. Now that is a crazy stat (and I thought Starbucks opening 7 stores per day was crazy)

Re: Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

#24

Post by Xichekolas »

tlrobinson wrote: post #23

"If you want a great business, take Coca-Cola. The product is unchanged, they sell 1.5 billion 8 ounce servings per day 122 years later." 1.5 BILLION servings of Coke a day?! That's 1 for every 4 humans on this planet. Now that is a crazy stat (and I thought Starbucks opening 7 stores per day was crazy)

Well he is talking 8 ounce servings, which means I had eight servings myself today (medium coke at Taco Johns for lunch, with one refill). So I'd guess Americans make up about half of those servings, since our drinks are so absurdly large.

Was an interesting aspect of living in Spain. I had to get used to making an 11 ounce bottle of coke last a whole meal, or pay another $3 for a 'refill'.

Re: Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

#25

Post by yagibear »

The paragraph at the end of the notes is possibly the most relevant to startups:

"After a talk at Harvard, I told them to work for who they admired the most, so they all become self-employed. It’s important to go to work for someone or some organization you admire."

Re: Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

#26

Post by far33d »

yagibear wrote: post #25

The paragraph at the end of the notes is possibly the most relevant to startups: "After a talk at Harvard, I told them to work for who they admired the most, so they all become self-employed . It’s important to go to work for someone or some organization you admire."

I think that's a dig at Harvard...

Re: Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

#27

Post by bayareaguy »

rms wrote: post #19
pchristensen wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm speechless. Now I finally understand why all of those poor Americans in makeshift boats are sailing to Cuba or south across the Rio Grande.

I think you guys missed the point of this downmodded guy's argument because he focused on the wrong thing. In the world economy today, if you're born poor, whether in America or the third world, you're not going to end up like Warren Buffett. It's impossible to go from the lower class to being an uber-capitalist.

Larry Ellison wasn't completely destitute but he started out less than well off. He's done pretty well.

Re: Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

#28

Post by ldambra »

Disturbing. I find it strange that no one reacted to this part yet :

"I had nothing to do with my own success. [...] I was born with the wiring for capital asset allocation. I had the right wiring at the right time. Temperament is a large part of my wiring. I was naturally good at it, and I used some feedback to develop it better.[...]"

Do you realize the logical assumption behind such statement ?

It means that if you fail, you're not responsible either, because you weren't born in the right place at the right time with the right "wiring". So basically Mr. Buffet doesn't believe in free will, and if you're on the lucky side, "there is no reason to feel guilty about it.". If you're on the unlucky side, there is really nothing you could do about it but try to be happy anyway with what you have.

But isn't the american society based on individual merit ? "Anyone can succeed if he really wants to", wich leads to the logical implication that "if you fail, it's also your fault". Mr. Buffet's philosophical conclusions can be summed up by his "ovarian lottery" metaphor that comes up a lot of times in the interview : you won in the vagina, should you apologize to the others ? Then why should it be different in the society, son ?

Now let me be clear : I'm not emitting a moral judgment about what Mr Buffet says, that he should believe something else or whatever. I just find it paradoxal that Mr. Buffet, wich is one of the icon of the american society, tends to not believe in what makes the heart of the american society paradigm : free will & individual merit.

Re: Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

#29

Post by anewaccountname »

ldambra wrote: post #28

Disturbing. I find it strange that no one reacted to this part yet : "I had nothing to do with my own success. [...] I was born with the wiring for capital asset allocation. I had the right wiring at the right time. Temperament is a large part of my wiring. I was naturally good at it, and I used some feedback to develop it better.[...]" Do you realize the logical assumption behind such statement ? It means that if yo…

Plenty of people don't believe in free-will; in fact as computer scientists, many times with interests in AI, I'd suspect the majority of us are complete mechanists.

Re: Notes From a Meeting with Warren Buffett

#30

Post by rms »

anewaccountname wrote: post #29
ldambra wrote: post #28

Disturbing. I find it strange that no one reacted to this part yet : "I had nothing to do with my own success. [...] I was born with the wiring for capital asset allocation. I had the right wiring at the right time. Temperament is a large part of my wiring. I was naturally good at it, and I used some feedback to develop it better.[...]" Do you realize the logical assumption behind such statement ? It means that if yo…

Plenty of people don't believe in free-will; in fact as computer scientists, many times with interests in AI, I'd suspect the majority of us are complete mechanists.

Yeah... while I don't believe in free-will, belief in fate is not a life philosophy. It's the kind of thing you want to ignore and pretend doesn't actually exist because it is not a happy conclusion.
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