Impregnated Identities

Dear Ladies and Gentlemen

Barry, a regular reader of «Stefan’s weekly,» sent me the following quote:

„You buy Cryptos to get rich… you buy Gold to stay rich.“

Now, this quote made me think. It made me think of the question of why do we believe in the things we believe? I mean, I do like the quote; after all, Incrementum also makes money thanks to its research business about gold and also thanks to managing digital assets in combination with other assets, and yet, I still asked myself why I liked the quote and could even see some truth in it.

Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel 

Among the many philosophers who have examined identity, Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770-1831) concluded that any society’s ideas define its social being, which means that the progress or evolution of ideas determines the identity of a social group/or an individual.

Wait a Minute

If Hegel is right, social context may be more important to identity than knowledge. Wow, what about individual beliefs? What about truth, then? Maybe Hegel can help again; according to his thoughts, knowledge is simply the current truth along the path towards a distant (more) absolute truth.

Social Context a Definition

Social context has been a fascination to me for many years. I would therefore like to share with you this concise definition of social context. «Social context, also known as „milieu“, is how someone reacts to something depending on their immediate and past social or physical environment. Thus, social context can influence how someone perceives something.»

So What?

So what? You may think, why is this important to people reading about financial markets, managing assets, producing research, etc.? It is massively important, Ladies and Gentlemen! Because the identity of every writer of every piece of research, the identity of every portfolio manager, the identity of every speaker at every investment conference is being influenced, maybe consciously, most probably unconsciously, by her or his social context.

Conclusion

Our identities are impregnated by the social context in which we live, and therefore our identities are likely to change probably more or less in proportion to the progressive change in our social context. This can only lead to one conclusion. So by reading, listening, watching about financial assets, research, investment advice, asset management (anything in life, really), firstly always ask yourself about the writer’s or speaker’s personal motivation behind a given statement, conclusion. I know; I did mention this many times before. But now it comes, I honestly think, it is time to ask yourself a second question: what is the writer’s/speaker’s social context? If you get a feeling for the answers to those two questions, you will be able to gauge statements, conclusions, and this again should lead to a more custom-tailored overall picture for yourself, and this is what it is all about. Your personal picture, not someone else’s.

More Hegel

Never forget to distance yourself from what seems obvious. Take a step back or, as G.W.F. Hegel put it: «the more time allowed away from everyday toil, the more the chance of thought and enlightenment.» Wonderful!

Next week

Next week we should look at inflation, bond yields and what is to be expected over the months to come?

Ladies and Gentlemen

As always, please share your opinion with me, but please do not forget (instead of hitting the reply button) to send your messages to:
smk@incrementum.li

Many thanks, indeed!

I wish you an excellent start to the day, a wonderful weekend, and above all, good health!

Yours truly,

Stefan M. Kremeth

Wealth Management
Incrementum AG – we love managing assets

Tel.: +423 237 26 60
Cell: +41 79 303 48 39
Im alten Riet 102
9494 Schaan/Liechtenstein
Mail: smk@incrementum.li