Today is January 21 and the Navigate the Chaos question to consider is "Are you a greater fool?"
The greater fool theory (also called survivor investing) is the belief held by one who makes a questionable investment, with the assumption that they will be able to sell it later to "a greater fool."
This form of investing rests upon the foundation that a buyer believes he can sell the stock at a higher price than purchased.
When applied to fields outside of economics, the term greater fool means someone who combines self-delusion with ego in order to succeed where others have failed.
In the final episode of The Newsroom (Season 1, 2013) the term ‘greater fool’ was used to describe the show's main character, Will McAvoy (Jeff Daniels), because of his belief in doing "real news."
Throughout the episode, Will views it as a negative term.
However, financial reporter Sloan Sabbith (Olivia Munn) tells Will, "The greater fool is someone with the perfect blend of self-delusion and ego to think that he can succeed where others have failed. This whole country was made by greater fools.”
Being a greater fool, however, requires a substantial amount of grit, patience, and courage. Being a greater fool often requires you realize that family and friends will not believe in you.
As Soren Kierkegaard noted "There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn't true; the other is to refuse to accept what is true."
The 2016 movie, Hidden Figures, tells the true story of three greater fools: Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan. Each woman refused to accept what was true.
As Lenika Cruz from The Atlantic wrote "It’s a story of brilliance, but not of ego. It’s a story of struggle and willpower, but not of individual glory.
Set in 1960s Virginia, the film centers on three pioneering African American women whose calculations for NASA were integral to several historic space missions, including John Glenn’s successful orbit of the Earth.
These women Katherine Johnson, Mary Jackson, and Dorothy Vaughan—were superlative mathematicians and engineers despite starting their careers in segregation-era America and facing discrimination at home, at school, and at work."
As you go about your day, consider asking yourself do you have any interest in being a greater fool?