Introduction: The Most Valuable Resource on Earth

During my college years, I took up a short-term job as a waiter at an upscale hotel in Los Angeles to earn some money. A technology executive engineer used to frequent our hotel. He was a highly talented individual, known for being one of the key designers and patent holders of the core components of Wi-Fi routers in the 20th century. He had founded several companies and later sold them. He was an immensely successful engineer. However, he was also quite extravagant. He would often spend a thousand dollars on dinners, which was nothing but sheer foolishness.

He would flaunt his wealth in front of his friends, boasting loudly and publicly about his riches. He would often leave the hotel in a drunken state. One day, he handed my colleague a few thousand dollars in cash and said, "Go to the jewelry store on the side of the road and buy me a thousand gold coins worth a few dollars each."

An hour later, the engineer and his friends gathered on a yacht by the Pacific Ocean, holding the gold coins. Then, they started throwing the coins into the sea, one by one, like stones. This was their idea of fun—pure enjoyment and amusement.

A few days later, he broke a lamp in the hotel restaurant. The manager informed him that the lamp was worth $500 and that he would have to pay for it.