Overvalued: Security. My office has a full-time rent-a-cop, security cameras, alarm systems and a series of locks that utterly mystifies me. You could get rid of any of that and still be just as safe, nevermind how ridiculously mundane my office is. When something actually DOES happen, the same result every time: call the police. So, all of the cameras, locks, alarms and security guys boils down to is...when something goes wrong, call the police. Undervalued: Independence. Too many people I know have $600 cell phones, brand new cars, spend their weekends eating out and going to bars, and then go home to their childhood bedroom. It's called priorities, man, and when I shoot off a load, I don't have to worry about Mom's hearing. Overvalued: Style. $500 sunglasses, $150 jeans, $2000 suits...the list goes on. I'm a believer that the quality of an item should determine the price, not how exclusive or trendy it is. I'm not cheap when it comes to clothing, and I can see the appeal of $150 Diesel jeans, but my wardrobe is based on classic, toned-down, quality items that I can keep for years. Who will still be wearing Ed Hardy next year? Who still wears Von Dutch hats and Orange County Chopper t-shirts?
Undervalued: Self sufficiency. So, let's say that a catastrophic event leaves you stranded, hungry, unarmed, etc. Most people I know would reach for their cell. But what if it doesn't work? Can you build lodging? Can you track? Can you design a weapon and use it? Or would you cry if you broke a nail? Overvalued: Entertainment/Technology: The amount of time spent playing games, flirting with a 400 pound man posing as a 15 year old, gettting 3D televisions, sound systems, blah, blah, blah. It is unlikely that our devotion to having the most current toys will actually enrich your life, much less teach survival.
Ahem. Trakiel hit the nail on the head here. You read any cooking magazine, or watch a television show and they often present good cooking as a complex and difficult thing, which is far from the truth. Case in point: There's a couple in my circle of friends that always bought pre-made things for potlucks, justifying it by saying they didn't know how to cook, or when pressed, that they were worried about being overshadowed by the rest of the group, all of which have some commercial cooking experience. After a few months of that mickey mouse shit, myself and the missus told them they weren't welcome at anymore potlucks unless they started cooking. This started a HUGE screaming match, but at the end of it they got the message and said they'd give it a shot. The week after they spent a solid 4 hours prepping a large crock pot of borscht. One of the better ones I've had, which is even more impressive because I have a Ukrainian background. It all boils down to this. Don't mistakenly assume that only professional chefs like myself can bust out brilliant meals. It's a common misconception, and it's only true in a restaurant setting because commercial cooking is a whole different monster. Now, I understand that time constraints make home cooking a bit more difficult at times, but truth be told, if you don't have an hour just once a week to prepare a meal for yourself, then you have a much bigger problem than not knowing how to cook. EDIT: While we're on the subject of home cookery, if anyone needs some advice, recipes, anything like that, drop me a line. Always gotta know how to cook.
To everyone talking about smart phones, realize that they will, without a doubt, revolutionize the way you poop.
Ah, but my bathroom is but one of many locations that I shit in. My phone travels with me, whereas my library does not. Overvalued: the news cycle. You would be amazed how easily you can cut CNN, the New York Times, etc. out of your life without your quality of life plummeting. Ask yourself: do I really care about any of this? Am I interested, and/or will it be useful to me? If so, keep watching/reading. If not, don't. Lose the idea that one "should" know the latest on everything. Trying to stay "up to date on the news" is a fool's errand. Turn off the six o'clock news and pick up a book instead. Don't be "up to date on the news." Become "educated" instead. It's a much better use of your time.
Word to the mutha: It's like that sign they have at the computer place here in town: Fast, cheap, reliable. Pick two. Too many people want higher wages, more jobs, and cheap stuff. Again, pick two. If Americans want to stop outsourcing, then stop buying outsourced shit. More expensive isn't necessarily better, but cheaper isn't necessarily a bargain, either.
On the subject of food: I agree with everyone that cooking is well worth the time and effort vs. going with fast or frozen food. Cooking is rewarding on multiple levels, and satisfies the soul. More specifically though my beef is with the decision of where people who do eat out decide to go. This argument is semi-ripped from Adam Carolla but is something I've always thought about. A regular visit to taco bell is anywhere from $3-$7 depending how much you get and whether you get a soda. You can go to the local Mexican food joint and get ten times better food for exactly the same price. You can go to Subway and get the much adorned five dollar foot long(Subway lives by Pareto's Principle using 80% bread and condiments and 20% of the meat to make monster profits), or you can spend six dollars at any deli and get a sandwich where the cheese actually has flavor. I'm still amazed that people go to fucking Dennys. Dennys is garbage. There's a place in Vegas called Blueberry Hill that wipes the floor with Denny's and has competitive(often better) pricing. Breakfast diners like this exist everywhere. People just need to do their research. I also have to agree with WhoresWithALotOfE-Credentials about the overvaluing of entertainment. The value of the time wasted on this stuff is incomprehensible(and arguably morally wrong) considering how much terrible shit is going on around you while you get your CoD rank up. This may be damn near blaspheming but I would even categorize sports with this. Sports have always had their place in my heart and it was my first dream to be a sports writer, but the amount of time people put into sports they aren't even playing is mind boggling. I read somewhere that a serious fantasy footballer spends nine hours per week adjusting their team. The fuck? Nine hours that could be spent pursuing a goal or perfecting that spaghetti sauce recipe.
I can see where you're coming from, but I don't really buy into it. For every Wylie Dufresne and WD-50 pushing the technically crazy limits of gastro-chemistry, there's a Jamie Oliver and Alton Brown that is espousing simple foods done simply. The problem is that people don't put things into proper context, and are making the wrong decisions about what to cook. And, just like this case, rather than taking responsibility for making the wrong decision, they blame "the way cuisine is presented to us". Just about anything in life takes baby steps, practice, and trial and error before you become proficient at it, and anyone that thinks that they can come in and make something difficult in their first attempt are either full of themselves or delusional. Or both. Most "beginner" cookbooks I've seen have a relative difficulty rating, and it'd be wise to follow it. As you well know, training your palette involves trial and error, tasting, learning what goes well together, and also learning what doesn't go well together. I think more than anything you have to be willing to fail when you're cooking, or you'll never learn. All people have to do is be realistic about what it is that they want to cook, and not let their ego get the better of them. "What? Macaroni and cheese made from scratch? Ha... that's too simple for me to cook... let's go for the shark fin soup." So yeah, a bunch of fancy food and cuisine is being hurled at them from everywhere, but they just have to use their common sense and make smarter decisions.
Undervalue: thinking. People seem to think that they are smart because they read. This is not the case, and creates a major problem. Reading non-fiction means you are basically reading someone else's ideas which is fine except people think that if they regurgitate these ideas out-loud to anyone who will listen then that counts for intelligence. It may make you knowledgeable but it does not make you smart. Intelligence has to do with solving problems which require thinking. Taking some raw data and coming up with well reasoned conclusions. Stuff like that.
Undervalued: Politeness: It doesn't take much effort to be polite, I think it takes much more effort to be a rude asshole. Table Manners: Maybe I'm just getting old but how hard is it to eat like a human ?
To paraphrase Carl Sagan, if you want to make macaroni and cheese from scratch, first you have to create the universe. Undervalued: How similar everybody and their motivations are, when it really comes down to. Overvalued: The physical attractiveness of women, by their friends.
I have a TV in my bathroom. Shitting will never reach the heights of watching sport while either: A) Placing bets on my iPad B) Updating various fantasy teams The downside is my average time spent in the bathroom now pushes 30 minutes.
Overvalued: Political correctness. Is anyone actually "offended" with a PC violation or do they just think they are because they're supposed to be? The newest thing Im hearing now is editing out the N-word in Huckleberry Finn because it might offend someone. You can't say anything without offending someones delicate sensibilities. Undervalued: Putting on a brand new pair of socks. God damn that's an awesome feeling.
FOCUS: What do people overvalue or undervalue in your opinion? I'll try my best to not get political, but I think nationalism/patriotism is one of the most overvalued, destructive ideas in the history of man. I can totally understand, back when we had no idea how we came to be, believing that our skin colour/spot on earth we were born actually made us significantly different or better than people with different skin colour/land mass origins, but the fact we know what we know now, and STILL think national pride has any use outside of sporting events, I find incredibly sad and depressing. And I am not alone. After all the senseless death that's come from patriotic pride, you'd think it would be a revelation/major step toward peace to find out we weren't competing with each other, we were competing with other species of animals, and we won. That does not appear to be the case. EDIT: From a rep, which I totally agree with but was avoiding due to the no politics/religion rule: "You could replace nationalism and skin color with religion and your post would be the same." ALT FOCUS: What do you personally undervalue? Boobs. Don't get me wrong, I love boobs only .05% less than I love (female) asses, but some days, I feel like I could value them more.
What do people or undervalue in your opinion? People easily undervalue building or repairing their own stuff, essentially the whole "throw-away generation." Back in the day when shit broke people fixed it, it didnt matter if it was their coffee maker, tv's or washing machines, cars etc. Due to this they would get many years of service out of what they had, which in turn reduced space in landfills. Now-a-days when something breaks down even if it's an easy fix, its right to the dump and out comes the credit card and a new fridge goes on it. My dad fixed our washing machine 15 times over the last 20 years, and usually it was a belt or an elastic or one time it was a hose that had to be replaced, all shit that took 20 minutes to repair. All that inturn lead to men not knowing how to use tools, because they dont "need" them. Ive got friends that dont know the difference between a Philips and a Robertson, and god forbid if you ask them to pass you a T-30 Torx. Overvalued: Credit. It's amazing how much people are in debt these days, for absolutely useless shit they dont need. I honestly cant grasp how the average person thinks they are entitled to big tv's or fancy trips and houses when they only make 20-30k a year. If you cant afford to pay for it in cash, then you shouldnt be buying it (besides mortgages and maybe high end trucks). Next thing they know they are 100k in the hole, and dont know how it happened or how to get out of it, and its usually everyone elses fault. These people truely make me sick and they are half the reason the USA is in such shambles.