The Madonna vs. Descartes
No, not the “Madonna” I am talking about is the pop icon Madonna and her book from 1992 titled “Sex.” A controversial book, it featured strong adult content and was pretty much lame, in today’s vernacular. Then you have René Descartes the (1596 –1650), an influential French philosopher, mathematician, scientist, and writer. He has even been called the “Father of Modern Philosophy.”
Now jump ahead to 2008 and me in a used bookstore. I find Madonna’s book for sale for somewhere around fifteen bucks and then I find René Descartes’ “Discourse on Method” and “Meditations on First Philosophy” for a total of seventy-five cents. Yeah, it is harder to read Descartes and there are no pictures. However, my real point here is, look at the value versus the price. The bookstore is going to sell books for what the market place is going to bear, selling what it considers more valuable for a higher price and what is considered of less value, well, for less. That is Economics 101, right?
I bought the two books by Descartes, and now in the evening I read his words, listen to his thoughts and try to grasp what he is telling me. It is slow going, requiring work on my part, and I feel like a thief who stole from a bookstore that did not know what they had. Or did they?
Talk amongst yourselves.
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I’ve never read Descartes, but I understand what you’re saying.
I had a similar experience in a used bookstore when I found Marilyn Manson’s autobiography for fifteen bucks and Deepak Chopra’s ‘The Tao of Physics’ for about 75 cents.
Needless to say, I went for the tattered and well used copy of ‘The Tao of Physics’ over Mr. Manson’s book.
Personally I felt the same way, like I had just robbed the bookstore of one of their most valuable posessions.
Its’ alright though, if they’re going to sell it for this price then I am comfortable taking it. Its’ really the bookstore that robs the poor fool that actually spends the money on the other book, what do they really get out of it? They’ve just been robbed.
Ugh, consumers, brainwashed, lead like a flock of sheep to the next big thing.
They seek not to drink the water, they only like the spiked koolaid.
This is part of the rub of capitalism. We start to think that price reflects value. The expensive glittery dojo is a better “value” than the garage or backyard dojo. Paying tuition gives one a better education than reading about it and teaching oneself at the library. The BMW must be more reliable than the Honda.
Yes, Jeffrey – price vs. value, an old question not yet resolved.
I think that we are all missing a very important point here. The value of anything is only relevant to what an individual places upon that item. For some, I suppose the price for a Madonna or Marilyn Manson book would be very significant to them, while others such as yours truly, wouldn’t use them as toilet paper, let alone read them.
I have paid well over $100.00 for books by Mas Oyama and Jack Dempsey, and feel that it was money well spent, while I am sure at the same time others would think I was off my rocket. Which may well be true, but that is another issue altogether. Ha Ha Ha
I remember reading the following saying years ago, but I don’t know who to credit for it, so here goes; “Good books are like good friends, far and few between and chosen wisely.”
I love 2nd bookstores and thrift shops.
Americans want entertainment, not education. Look at the horrendous errors in historical references many of our recent elected leaders have made, and its highlighted once again – Americans are motivated, not educated.
Descartes is no easy read, and Madonna (at least when she published that book) was easy on the eyes. It’s a simple decision for most mainstream people.
Get the book with the most pictures…
Panem et circenses
Matt
Panem et circenses
Descartes is going for 75 cents? Then I shouldn’t have paid two dollars for toilet paper.
this post really got me thinking about the value of an item vs the marketing of an item. anything can have value depending on the person looking for information. that is what makes marketing so important. everything we do usually came from some form of marketing whether it be word of mouth, an album you have heard, a career of someone you research, a tv ad… etc. the diffences in price are a product of marketing. i love phillosophy, but i have never heard of descartes. i dont even really enjoy madonna, but i know who she is. at a glance i would say that the prices seem right because there are more people that know who madonna is. therefore logically there would be a bigger base of people wanting to purchase her book over a book of someone they have never heard, or that they dont have the time to get to know/understand. just some thoughts.