Not Everyone Can Be a Rational Thinker. But You Can

Not Everyone Can Be a Rational Thinker. But You Can

Charlie: “The brain of man conserves programming space by being reluctant to change, which is a form of inconsistency avoidance. We see all sorts of these human habits, constructive and destructive. Few people can list a lot of bad habits that they have eliminated, and some people cannot identify even one of these. I asked; practically everyone has a great many bad habits he has long maintained despite there being too much in many cases to appraise early-formed habits as destiny. When Marley’s miserable host says ‘I wear the chains I forged in life,’ he is talking about chains of habits that were too light to be felt before they became too strong to be broken."

Mr. Brown: “Dear Charlie, lets change the topic. You know, Charlie, I like you a lot, and I like our discussion about moral and values. I have to tell you one story that happened to me recently, but this is a very private story between you and me. I met a girl in Las Vegas, she looked so beautiful, and I fell in love with her. She is very different from all the girls I ever met before.”

“The worst-case scenario,” Charlie was thinking, though his face expressed nothing.

Mr. Brown: “You know Charlie, New York is a city of comforts and luxuries. You could not imagine how easily luxurious habits are adopted and how difficult it is to get rid of them. You know, little by little they have become necessities—to buy a Chagall picture, and they are so beautiful, I have two of them. So, if you are professional in life, you do not get any time for yourself at all. New York is very busy—meetings stress. How do you find time to learn about these models and doing whatever else interests you? How do you find time to do fun things besides learning?”

Charlie: “I’ve always taken a fair amount of time to do what I really wanted to do—some of which was merely to fish or play bridge or play golf. Each of us must figure out his or her own lifestyle. You may want to work seventy hours a week for ten years to make partner at Cravath and thereby often obtain the obligation to do more of the same. Or you may say, ‘I am not willing to pay that price.’ Either way, it’s a totally personal decision that you have to make by your own lights.

“But whatever you decide, I think it’s a huge mistake not to absorb elementary worldly wisdom if you’re capable of doing it because it makes you better able to serve others. It makes you better able to serve yourself, and it makes life more fun. So, if you have an aptitude for doing it, I think you’d be crazy not to. Your life will be enriched—not only financially, but in a host of other ways—if you do."

Mr. Brown: “Yes, Charlie, this is the correct idea. Are you in effect fulfilling your responsibility to share the wisdom that you’ve acquired over the years?”

Charlie: “Sure, look at Berkshire Hathaway. I call it the ultimate didactic enterprise. Warren’s never going to spend any money. He is going to give it back to society. He is just building a platform so people will listen to his notions. Needless to say, they are very good notions. And the platform is not bad either. But you could argue that Warren and I are academics in our own way.”

Mr. Brown: “Yes, I quite agree with you: this is an amazing example, but dear Charlie, back to the question. How did you balance reading that much and having so many children?”