Gourmet Food on Paper Plates

Message/Experiment of the Week:

Have you ever undervalued a person or thing because of how it looked? It is human nature to quickly judge things based on the way they look. However, it is important to remember that looks and marketing may easily fool you into thinking things are more valuable than they really are, and they don’t equal intrinsic value. Because of this human foible it is wise to not serve gourmet food on paper plates. Dan Ariely has an amazing book that covers this called Predictably Irrational. (Predictably Irrational - Wikipedia)

A good example of this occurred in 2007 when Joshua Bell, one of the world’s best violinists, put on a hat and played a $3 million dollar violin in a Washington DC subway station for 43 minutes and only seven people stopped to listen. However, people pay hundreds of dollars to listen to him play in concert halls, and thousands came to see him play again in the subway when they knew who he was. See the video below.

For an experiment this week, see if you can find at least 10 things that you are undervaluing because you are making quick judgements, or they don’t meet your preconceived ideas about how things should be.

Quotes of the Week:

• We cannot gauge the worth of another soul any more than we can measure the span of the universe. Every person we meet is a VIP to our Heavenly Father. Once we understand that, we can begin to understand how we should treat our fellowmen.

  One woman who had been through years of trial and sorrow said through her tears, “I have come to realize that I am like an old 20-dollar bill—crumpled, torn, dirty, abused, and scarred. But I am still a 20-dollar bill. I am worth something. Even though I may not look like much and even though I have been battered and used, I am still worth the full 20 dollars.” ―Dieter F. Uchtdorf, You Are My Hands

Video of the Week:

CBS This Morning - Joshua Bell’s Encore at Union Station in Washington, DC

Song of the Week:

Oceans (Where Feet May Fail) - Hillsong UNITED - Live in Israel

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