The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility

We are in a common battle to defeat the lethal virus Covid- 19, which has unleashed a great deal of harm to the human race around the world. This is a time like no other, we are all seeking to navigate a strange, surreal world of chaos and anxiety. A world of silent streets, shuttered storefronts, empty places of worship, rods empty of vehicles, empty markets and work places etc. We are worried about our loved ones who are equally worried about us. I believe that this is an occasion given by God as moments of reflection, remembrance and renewal. The humanity will win over the battle against this awful virus, provided we learn to cope with the constant alteration the Mother Earth enforces us with. What really makes us to be equipped to fight the virus? I believe, along with the vaccines and medicines it is the goodness which is present in these troubled times that keep our life going and equipped to fight along. I am reminded of a story/incident which may better explain the necessity to view this extraordinary and unprecedented situation with a different perspective.    

 He was always fascinated by the deep jungles and mysterious rain forests. Trekking through the harsh mountains and finding a green forest up in the hilltop gave him excitement and further added flavor to his monotonous life. It was a pleasant day and he was hit upon an idea to go on a hiking to explore the flora and fauna of a mysterious mountain which led would lead him to an unexplored woods. With all the due preparations he set out for his destination. The thick rain forest of the North Eastern mountains brought in him a wild gusto which led him to further ramble deep into the heart of the forest. While chasing his inquisitiveness he lost his way deep in the jungle. He used all his navigation skills but neither did he find any way out of the jungle nor did found any food to satiate his burning hunger for three days at a stretch. He lost all his hope and realized that he would soon die out of hunger, or be eaten up by a wild beast.

He quenched his thirst by drinking contaminated water from little streams which were filled with stagnant water. The stench emitted from the water induced in him severe nausea and he thought he would even throw up and collapse. Suddenly, a tree full of fruits caught his sight, it was a wild pear tree. He ran towards the tree and collected almost 10 pears to feed him for the rest of his stretch. As he ate the first pear his joy knew no bounds, he just could not stop feeling grateful and blessed. For he began thanking God for his life and His benevolence towards him. He could not believe his luck, as the pears could keep his hope alive for sure. As he ate the first pear, he was extremely appreciative of God’s concern towards him. While having the second one he was less grateful and even lesser grateful when he ate the third and fourth pears. Somehow with each passing pear the gratitude and the joy kept on reducing drastically. So, he just could not enjoy the tenth pear. He even threw away the fruit complaining it to be sour. For he had already taken for granted the gift of having found the fruit tree in the middle of the forest after three days of wandering with hunger and hopelessness.

The above story/incident can be explained through an Economic law called, ‘The Law of Diminishing Marginal Utility’. But I feel it is actually ‘the law of diminishing gratitude’, or to say in simple words, taking things for granted, alluding to the story it is the ‘10^th Pear Effect’. The final pear represents our lack of appreciation for gifts of life. The man lost in the forest represents all of us, while the pears represent the gifts life gave us. Ironically the 10^th pear is as sweet as the first pear. If the final pear fails to give as much pleasure as the first one, there is nothing wrong with the pear but with the person enjoying the fruit. We are going through a troubled time. We were having the 10^th Pear Effect in our world for some time. Abundance of everything at our disposal which led us to complain over trifles that hindered the flow of our hedonistic living. We complained about ourselves, our family, people around, government, rules, traffic, food, weather and what not. But providentially, during this lock-down, I am sure most of us have learned to appreciate lot of things in life which we took for granted. Even small things in life like, sitting back and talking to our parents, siblings, children, spouses etc. We have been forced to allot more time for those things we had once ignored under the pretext of lack of time. The lock down has humbled us to such a bottom level, where we are able to even appreciate looking at the saggy vegetables we have procured after a long awaiting in front of the supermarkets.      

The lock-down has opened our eyes to see the reality of our life in limelight, to decipher the fact that we are dependent on something or someone. Today we are left with two choices, either to be grateful or to be stressful and it is a choice. So, choose the best out of this worst situation. When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at will change. Gratitude or thankfulness is a strong, edifying and empowering emotion. Sometimes we have to bring in more awareness and be more grateful for our life for it is a gratuitous gift of God. It is evident that this state of being happy and grateful activate our immune system while on the other hand stress makes us weak and fragile. It is important to be aware of our state of mind and stop complaining rather start counting our blessings. The law of the Universe is when you are grateful for the things you have in your life you will have more things to be grateful. Let us not let the 10^th Pear Effect to make us take the gifts in life for granted.