Trading Candy

 October 31st, 2024
kids
There are a lot of fun things about halloween, with costumes, neighbors, and sweets, but maybe the part I like best is the trading. Two kids sit down, each with a bucket full of candy. After a while they get back up, each with a better bucket than they started with. This feels like it shouldn't be possible: isn't there some sort of law of conservation of candy?

But of course it is possible: not everyone has the same preferences. We each start with some candy we aren't the ideal person to appreciate. Which also means the more different our preferences are, the greater the benefit of trading.

  • Don't just copy the preferences of the people around you: figure out what you actually like.

  • Fight culture that encourages mocking people for complementary taste.

  • In real life we don't swap around a fixed pool of candy, we can make more candy.

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