https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4 Ryan Nam en-us 2021-08-27 05:20:55 UTC 2026-01-30 23:32:11 UTC hello@padlet.com namedryan https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4/wish/1700225478 Rational choice theory is the idea that an action is fundamentally rational in character and that people calculate the likely costs and benefits of any action before deciding what to do.  In rational choice theory, individuals are motivated by wants or goals that express their own preferences, and act within specific, given constraints and on the basis of the information that they have about the conditions under which they are acting.  
The example that I've compared this to would be the Trolley Problem and utilitarianism in philosophy.  Utilitarianism is built on the idea of the most good for the most people.  In the Trolley Problem, the individual is given the choice of having a train follow a set of tracks that runs over one person or runs over multiple people.  In the scenario, utilitarianism would say to choose the one person, as only one person would die versus a larger amount.
Utilitarianism posits that the rational choice of action would be to preserve the greatest happiness for the most number of people.  Like rational choice theory, utilitarianism relies on the idea that all actions should be rational and calculative. Personally, I believe that rational choice theory and utilitarianism are extensions of each other; they are both built in the same principles of calculating costs and benefits, unlike other philosophies such as Kantism.]]> 2021-08-27 05:30:49 UTC https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4/wish/1700225478 namedryan https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4/wish/1700253834 The Protestant Work Ethic, by Max Weber, describes a religious work ethic concept that emphasizes diligence, discipline, and frugality.  Weber's key findings were preoccupied with the articulation of ideal and material interests and ideas.  He also believed that individuals are driven by a desire to be saved, resulting in them acting accordingly.
The example that I've chosen for the Protestant Work Ethic would be my childhood.  Growing up as a child, I was raised in a conservative, Christian household.  I was taught that it was good to work hard, and that individuals who had misfortunes did so due to their lack of work ethic.
Similarly to Weber, my mother raised me with the ideas of being a good neighbor and working hard. I was raised in a mainly conservative Republican surrounding, that prioritized working hard and staying faithful to the teachings of Christianity, more so in how to act than faith alone. Rather than prioritizing the faith aspect of religion, I was instead raised focusing on its teachings and behaviors to either follow or stay away from. Avoiding ideas such as gluttony and greed were paramount, while ideas such as discipline and diligence were valued above all.

]]> 2021-08-27 05:49:40 UTC https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4/wish/1700253834 namedryan https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4/wish/1700274827 Mental accounting is the set of cognitive operations used by individuals and households to organize, evaluate, and keep track of financial activities.  It composes mainly of three parts: how outcomes are perceived and experienced and how decisions are made and evaluated, the assignment of activities to specific accounts, and the frequency with which accounts are evaluated and choice bracketing.
I personally use a version of mental accounting for every purchase that I make.  Although I do not have a separate account between money set aside for needs and spending money, I do still categorize each transaction before spending money on it.
Although I may not physically assign activities to specific accounts, the transactions that I make are definitely mentally separated in my mind.  Before making a purchase, its value is calculated beforehand, with additional points being awarded to things that are deemed necessary.  This point value is then compared to my personal spending ability, or a combination of expenses so far and income.  Additionally, I have followed some aspects of mental accounting through some of my investments.  The idea of a realized loss being more powerful than a paper loss is definitely a strong one, as I have not sold any stocks for a loss so far. Lastly, I highly agreed with the idea of the best gift presented by mental accounting, as it is the same way that I choose gifts for others! The best gift is to get something for someone that they would not get themselves.]]> 2021-08-27 06:03:41 UTC https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4/wish/1700274827 namedryan https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4/wish/1700288692 Fungibility is defined as the ability of a good or asset to be changed with other individual goods or assets of the same type.  Looking closer at budgets, a lack of fungibility can result in accounts having unspent funds while other accounts may be spent up to its limit.
In my personal life, the only other time that I had heard of the term fungibility has been because of NFTs or non-fungible tokens.  A non-fungible token is a digital token that is part of a cryptocurrency blockchain that results in said token being entirely non-fungible or unique.
A non-fungible token is a good example of fungibility because it is the exact opposite of it. Unlike fungibility items such as money or even goods used to barter, non-fungible tokens are simply that: unable to be replaced. Each token remains entirely unique, and cannot be changed for a similar type. It would be like owning the original Mona Lisa- while other prints can be made, there is only one original Mona Lisa.]]> 2021-08-27 06:12:28 UTC https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4/wish/1700288692 namedryan https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4/wish/1700294897 Karl Marx was a German philosopher, sociologist, economist, and more who is responsible for the ideas behind Marxism, and further still Communism.  Marx developed his theory according to which the economy determined society's general evolution.  He also argued that material interest do two things: drives people in their everyday lives and determine the structures and processes in society.
I feel like the longer that I'm alive, the more I think that Karl Marx was onto something.  While I grew up with the initial disdain for Communism that most individuals growing up in the United States grow up with due to remnants of the Red Scare and the Cold War, I do personally see a difference between Communism and Marxism.  
While Communism may be the political application of Marxism, I am of the belief that the beliefs in Marxism have never been more applicable today. Marx believed that people were united by having to work in order to live. Similarly to Marx, there has been a shift in our country's politics resulting in individuals pushing for the lower class, and valuing ideas such as unions as well as disdain for the upper class. Marx's teachings seem to fall directly in line with the current state of the country, even down to the proletariat vs bourgeoisie and the means of production.]]> 2021-08-27 06:16:30 UTC https://padlet.com/namedryan/u52ikmfm4y5tg6c4/wish/1700294897