How to answer this perennial question? The difficulty, to my mind, lies in distinguishing between need and greed. Tolstoy "the wise" came to the conclusion that a man does not need more than two yards of land. For all men deserve a decent burial. (Refer short story “How much land does a man need?”)
Unlike Tolstoy, who perhaps looked for answers in religion, I took the refuge of mathematics. Not economics, for economics is a treacherous science, if it is a science at all. So, using game theory, I came up with the following model:
Imagine you are in heaven, waiting for your next birth. You are asked to assemble in a hall, with ten other people. You are not able to know anything about each other. God manifests himself. He says “All of you, take a piece of paper each, and write down the sum of money that you need in your life. Be careful, because you won’t get a penny more than that in your entire life. The person who quotes the smallest sum will be the chosen one. He shall get the entire amount he desires. The rest will get half of the sum the chosen one gets. And beware, you are not allowed to communicate with each other.”
What amount will you quote? Will you factor in a car? Will you take into account a large mansion?
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