Warren Buffet still lives in Omaha in the same house he bought in 1958 for $31,500.

Nobody would describe him as "stingy" having donated $billions to various worthy causes.

Frugality is a culture. Those who have it find it difficult to waste money. My wife still uses coupons at the grocery store, for example.

I often find the wealthiest people I meet try to show it the least, and the pseudo wealthy try to show it off with obvious visible acts of frivolous spending.

Mike C.

Everything you just said sounds good, and makes sense.

And it is simply ancedotal.

I know people who are much more generous than Warren Buffett, even though they have far less. People are complex creatures. I think one reason you and I disagree so much is that we are wired so differently, you are an engineer, you have a very logical thought process, but when it comes to people, you seem to see them as machines. It’s not unusual, a lot of engineers think the same way.

I’m very mechanical, but by no means an engineer. My strength is understanding people, it comes naturally to me, just like engineering comes natural to you.

You analize frugality and wealth and decide that Warren Buffett is the gold standard of combining both.

I look at him and wonder if he is truly happy, what his life is really like, what his children and grandchildren think of him and what their lives are truly like.

You take the well orchestrated data and accept it as an accurate portrayal of who WB is, I know people well enough to know that it’s more complex than that.

I wouldn’t trade places with Warren Buffett, wouldn’t even consider it… and he’s rich.

The irony in your post Chip is the only reason anyone has excess money to buy Uber Black is bc of the rational engineers who built literally all of modern society! Read the Perfectionists by Simon Winchester. Engineers made the modern world. Everyone else just gets to enjoy it.

I know lots of engineers. Anecdotally, as a class of humans, they seem more well adjusted and happy than the rest. Rationality has its perks.

I don’t think that’s ironic, engineers didn’t build everything in a vacuum, some bright person imagined it, someone else designed it, another group raised the funds to build it and then the engineers got involved.

Certainly not taking anything away from engineers, many of the smartest people I have ever met are engineers. My friend Felix Ferrer tells a story about how he changed the entire commercial construction industry by solving a single problem. The guy is brilliant.

Mike C. Is brilliant, certainly a lot smarter than me, I was just pointing out that we are wired differently.

People with very high IQ’s are rarely people who have a good grasp of dealing with people and understanding why they think the way they do.

It sounds trite, but it takes all types.

That's a great choice.

But is everyone else "stingy" for not making the same choice you did?

Mike C.

I don’t think that’s ironic, engineers didn’t build everything in a vacuum, some bright person imagined it, someone else designed it, another group raised the funds to build it and then the engineers got involved.

Certainly not taking anything away from engineers, many of the smartest people I have ever met are engineers. My friend Felix Ferrer tells a story about how he changed the entire commercial construction industry by solving a single problem. The guy is brilliant.

Mike C. Is brilliant, certainly a lot smarter than me, I was just pointing out that we are wired differently.

People with very high IQ’s are rarely people who have a good grasp of dealing with people and understanding why they think the way they do.

It sounds trite, but it takes all types.

In this vein, I am always amazed and the annoying things that so many people just live with without figuring out how to fix them.

I think engineers, in addition to being smarter than everyone else, are simply more easily bothered. At least this one is.

It actually doesn’t. Put the engineers on an island. Things will improve over time. The other things you mentioned are nice to haves, not must haves. Modern life is a function of engineering, full stop. It’s why we don’t live in the dark ages anymore. The fact you are arguing the point actually proves mine . Everyone takes this for granted. Read the book over the holiday and report back.

Who invented the guns Chip?

Or the making of metal for the fish hooks?

The Chinese in the 13th century.

Not engineers. Metal work evolved through the early ages. The metal fish hook dates back to the Bronze age.

A fish hook is pretty simple, I’m pretty sure the good ol boys can figure out how to make one!

You must not be married or have kids / grandkids.

I wish I was worried about Uber rates!

Help me figure out how to reign in these money hungry children!

Exactly.

At university they told us we ruled the world, and we kind of do.

Andrew

Someone invented and made useful those processes and devices.

Those are engineers even if you don't recognize that at the time.

The art of converting science into utility is engineering. This means just about anything that is useful was engineered.

Mike C.