Abdurraheem Green – Mine, mine, mine The Endowment Effect E-Reminders

			Salam Alaikum brothers and sisters, welcome to another episode of our inward journey, where we are
exploit a, we are exploring the mysteries of the human mind. So we can understand ourselves better.
Because knowing yourself is one of the most important keys to a truly successful life. And a truly
successful life is a life in which you are doing your deeds, with real sincerity for Allah subhanaw
taala. And you're doing them in the correct way. And as I keep on mentioning, if you don't really
know who you are, if you don't really know what motivates you, if you don't know why you think the
way that you do, it's going to be very hard for you to be sincere. And it's something that I just
		

			keep coming back to, is this great need for us to
		

			be real with ourselves and have radical self honesty. It's so important, because we all do. And it
doesn't matter. I don't think it matters. I'm sure there's some people who really work hard at this,
what we're doing is hard work, because it is hard work. If you actually try it and apply the things
that I've been talking about for the last couple of years in these reminders.
		

			Yeah, it's hard work it is the inner work is hard work. But it's also amazing is fascinating. And
you know, martial law, in the daytime, I often go walking in the hills, and I see the beautiful
nature, the creation of our law. And then you know what, I come back and once a week, and a few days
here and there as well. As I'm researching for each topic, I take another journey and inward journey
that in many ways is equally fascinating, equally beautiful, and brings about so many different
questions. And I'm always finding these incredible connections between what I'm finding out about
the human mind about how our brains work, or, as we're really talking about how they don't work.
		

			Sometimes this is what our conversation is about been about cognitive dissonance.
		

			It's not, it's not really that your brain doesn't work actually, like, you know, these, these are
very useful shortcuts that our brain takes, and for very good reasons.
		

			And so and the good reason is that our brain takes a lot of energy, and living takes a lot of
energy. And I think at the end of the day, what is really profound about today's discussion, mine,
mine mine, the endowment effect, is thinking and reading about this subject. What I realized is
that, and this is very true, definitely, it's true for me,
		

			you need to find out whether it's true for you or not think about it, because this is why we have
these discussions. So in Sharla, you can think and then you can understand, and you can see, how
does this apply to me? How useful is this for me and my life? How much do I need to deal with this
particular issue if it is an issue? So I definitely find that.
		

			But it's, I definitely find that I do like to be in this state of rest.
		

			And I think that in many ways, we're all looking for that state of rest a place maybe we can call
home or a place that we feel relaxed and comfortable, and we feel secure, and we don't feel
threatened. And when we reach that place
		

			where I guess in many different ways we may have achieved some of our goals and some of our
objectives. We are very, very reluctant to move.
		

			And this is I think perhaps the sort of underlying basis of what we're going to be talking about
today, which is the endowment effect mind. It's really this really, very, very normal, very
understandable, but very strange phenomena is that when we have something, meaning when we possess
something, it's in our hands here. We value that thing way, way more than it's actually worth
		

			And of course, from the point of view of Economics, Psychology,
		

			a lot of the things that I've been talking about, and I've realized
		

			they are studies that are done from the viewpoint of what they believe the people who are studying
it, they believe our rational, economic decisions, why do we make decisions that are not rational
from an economic perspective?
		

			A lot of the things that we have been discussing have a connection to economy. And again, another
thing we're going to be discovering today, which is really fascinating, is how we are being
manipulated by corporations, by businesses. And no, no, we probably do this ourselves in our own
businesses, because we see others doing it. And we probably don't think that we're manipulating
people. But we are being manipulated. And we are manipulating people using these cognitive biases.
So it's always a good thing to understand. Why are we doing what we're doing? Am I really making a
rational decision? Or am I just like a puppet and someone's playing with me? No, you don't want to
		

			be a puppet. You don't want to be a sheep. You want to learn to think rationally independently. And
so studying these things really helps. So this is it's interesting. I have a mug a nice mug of tea
here. Because one of the experiments that was done around the endowment effect was based on mugs, it
was all around mugs. So basically what they did is they got some groups of students and they gave
some of the students mugs. And, and then they gave they didn't give they gave, they didn't give the
other group of students have mugs, they had no mugs.
		

			So then the students with mugs were told to know they had the mug right, it was given to them. So
they were told to estimate the value of the mug. So students with mugs estimated the average on
average average doubt they estimated the worth of their mug was like $7.99, like $8. Yeah, just
under $8. Yeah. However, the students who had no mug
		

			estimated the value of the mug as being about $2.79. Now,
		

			only difference was
		

			the possession, mine, it's mine. And because it was theirs, those people just thought it was worth
way, way more than it actually was worth.
		

			And yeah, this this is the endowment effects. And I think it takes place in all sorts of
extraordinary things that I didn't read about because I've been thinking about it. Since I've been
researching it. I wonder how many scientists, for example, come up with theories. And they have the
endowment effect. They give way, way, way more weight to the theory that they have adopted than it's
actually worth in real scientific terms. I wonder how many scientists do that and have the endowment
effect in respect to their scientific leanings? That's very interesting, isn't it? Because science
is supposed to be the most rational of pursuits. And I'm sure you will find that scientists just
		

			like other human beings, when they have something and they think it's theirs. It's mine. They give
it way, way more value than it actually has in the real marketplace, whether that's the physical
economic marketplace, or it's the marketplace of ideas, or even by the way, the dating, bringing up
dating, I know we Muslims don't date, but the point is, is still apply in terms of marriage and
relationships. Lots of people stay in a relationship, not because it's rational, not because it's
even necessarily healthy or good for them. Because once you're in a relationship, people are very,
very reluctant to leave those relationships, which is not necessarily a bad thing. However, it's
		

			also not necessarily irrational thing. And that's the point that the endowment effect comes into
place in so many different parts of our life. This whole feeling that something is mine. So this is
very interesting because obviously, as human beings, trade to Jara buying and selling is a very
important part of human life. It's a part of our deen the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam. Of
course, the Quran talks about trade, the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam before he was a
messenger of Allah and afterwards he traded he boys, it's just a normal part of life. It's something
Allah speaks about something the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam participated in and spoke about
		

			and taught us
		

			about rules of trade, and so on and so forth, this is normal. So really, when you study the
endowment effect, when it comes to this issue of trade, there is always this tug and pull. And it
happens in a lot of people is that you value something that you have way more than people are ready
to buy it. Now, of course, everybody has a price. In the end, everybody has a price
		

			at which they are ready to depart with whatever it is that they have. But this idea that it's mine,
and it doesn't seem to matter. It's interesting, by the way, it doesn't seem to matter whether you
are given that thing, won in a lottery,
		

			or you work for it, and you, you know, you work through it with your hard earned sweat and labor.
		

			The endowment effect is still there, even if the thing has been endowed to you, right, thus, the
endowment effect. And I guess that's What's more surprising to psychologists is that when something
was given to you almost for free, you still have that effect. You still overvalue something, even
though you haven't really put any real effort into acquiring it. It's just the sheer fact of you
possessing it, of you being the owner of it.
		

			And even to a seat in aeroplanes. I mean, I was reading an article talking about the endowment
effect. And it was very interesting that those are you You might remember this, I don't know if you
remember, but there was this. This doctor who was I think, from South Korea, he had originally
American but his originally South Korean, in an aeroplane in I don't know which American Airlines or
whatever that shares fell by 1 billion anything overnight when this video was released. So it was
something big. So basically, what happened is the police forcibly removed him from his seat in the
aeroplane. And he actually got injured in the process. And he said, he's a doctor. Right? And all
		

			because, or Northwest Airlines or American wear, I don't know, whatever. I don't know, start naming
some airline who it wasn't. But it's some American Airlines. Yeah.
		

			I'm sure you can Google it and find out. Yeah, they just wanted their staff, their staff needed
seats on the airplane. So they chuck some passenger this passenger out.
		

			And
		

			the whole point is, it's the endowment effect taking place. Because it like, once he was in the
seat, and that was the point, he gave this seat, or this way more value than it really had, because
obviously he did puts up some sort of resistance and some sort of, you know, he did really not want
to move, which is perfectly understandable. I mean, if you think about trudging through an airport,
the fact that we're probably gonna have to wait, what, wait another six hours for another flight, or
however long it is, you're in your seat, you're there, you're ready to go. And then someone tells
you to move. I think that really, in a sense, goes back to what I was saying. That the fact that we
		

			as human beings, we like that place of rest, we like that feeling of it's mine. We like that feeling
of possessing something because with it comes a sense of security. It's comes a sense of
completeness. You know, it's something we're always looking for. And what was remarkable is, I was
thinking about traveling, and I was thinking about that doctor sitting in his seat, and he plunked
himself down, he was just sort of relaxed and sort of thought, yeah, and it's the same thing. When
you buy something, or even when you're given something, it's just that feeling that comes with it.
And this is the whole point. The whole point is this is actually very emotional. It's not logical,
		

			it's not rational. It's emotional. And that's what it's about is the fact that we invest our
emotions into things, we invest our ego into things. It's almost as if those things become a part of
our selves. And therefore, just as we defend ourselves, we defend those things. Again, this is
understandable. And this is something natural. This is the natural order of things to some degree.
Otherwise, why would there be punishments for theft? Because it's not right for someone to deprive
another human being of something that they have worked for, or even something which they have been
given. It's not the right of a human being to deprive another human being of something that belongs
		

			to them. It's not right. Okay.
		

			Except under some very, very extreme and particular and limited circumstances.
		

			And this is something universally understood. So obviously,
		

			even in Islam is good for you to stand up for yourself, it's good for you to defend yourself against
those people who would wrongly deprive you of what belongs to you. However,
		

			we can see that this attitude of something is mine, something belongs to me, on the other hand,
		

			can get in the way of making rational decisions. And it's interesting that when the Prophet
sallallahu alayhi wa sallam talked about, if a thief comes and tries to take something from you, you
shouldn't give it to him. And if he fights you fight him back. And if he kills you, He will go to
*. And if you know if you, if you kill him, he will go to *. And if he kills you, you will die
or shaheed. So there is something there that that it is something that is a religious virtue, it is
a virtue in Islam, to defend yourself vigorously against people who are unjustly seeking to to, to
deprive you of your wealth, or attack your family or your home. This is normal. However,
		

			on the other hand, is this attitude? Is this mindset of mind, mind mind? Is that really a correct
mindset to have as a Muslim? And this is what I want to think about? Because I'm also thinking
about, what are the different ways that we might be able to deal with this endowment effect this
thing that can really warp the way we think about the value of things just merely by the virtue of
having it and possessing it, we give it weigh me way more value, than it actually really is worth?
And, and so obviously, we buy and sell. So if everyone has this endowment effect with an absolutely,
it's mine, I'm never going to get rid of it, then obviously, no one would sell anything. Obviously,
		

			no one said anything. You know, like, if I wanted to sell, you know, you wanted to buy this mug of
me, if I if the domino effect was absolute, without limits, then I would never let go of it. Right?
However much you offered to pay me for it, but like I said, everyone has a price. Right? And but
it's just that What do we do is we over estimate the value, we overestimate, which is a problem.
Because if I am insisting that this thing that I have is worth way, way, way more than what you are
prepared to pay for it.
		

			I'm not gonna say anything.
		

			And then trade would not exist. So I mean, fortunately, obviously, people do are able to think about
these things, rationally, people are able to overcome the endowment effect, people are able to sell
things at a price that people are ready to pay for it. And obviously, that has to come with some
training with some discipline.
		

			And that's what it's about, it's about being able to think about things in a rational way. And to
think about what is the worth of something in a rational way. And obviously, a lot of people are not
able to do that. Like I said, brothers and sisters, this is not just about buying and selling
things, this can be
		

			in many, many different aspects of human activity as well. So yes, so how can we deal with this how
I think Subhanallah as always, we come back to our beautiful Deen of Islam, this beautiful religion.
And I've been thinking about some of the ways just by virtue of being a Muslim, just by virtue of
our belief that we have about Allah, about this life, about the reality of the nature of this world,
about the life to come about some of the practices, the religious practices that we have, as Muslims
help us overcome this self possessive egotistical belief that things belong to me. And that will
actually help us deal with the world and reality and other people in a much more sensible and
		

			approachable way. So number one, is our belief in Allah, that Allah is the Creator. And Allah is the
provider. And Allah is the Owner of everything, every nothing really belongs to you anyway, brothers
and sisters, nothing. It actually belongs to Allah Subhana Allah and Allah has inch
		

			I said it to you, to see how you and to see how I will behave to see what will we do with these
things? How will we use these things? Will we use them in a way that is pleasing to Allah or not?
That's the reality. So even our children, I guess, we think of our children as ours. And of course,
we have that responsibility. Parents have the primary responsibility for children, not government's,
not schools, not big pharma, right? You the parent, you have the primary responsibility for your
children. And no one should be taking that away from parents, whatever their assessment of those
parents are, unless I get it unless we have extreme extreme circumstances of, of absolute clear
		

			abuse, obviously, children should be shaved, saved from, you know, abusive parents, step parents or
whatever, right. Okay. Just as people should be saved from oppressive and tyrannical governments in
Sharla. But the point being brothers and sisters, in the normal process, the normal way, the normal
nature of things is that parents have that responsibility. But children don't belong to you. They're
not actually yours, really, they are a gift. They are a blessing that Allah has given you. And yes,
your children are there for you to invest in and to utilize and Insha Allah, you will hope that they
will be a source of goodness for you in this life, and in the next. But always remember that
		

			whatever you have, whatever you possess, and you think it's yours, it's not really yours, even your
health, even your life, that is why suicide is haram.
		

			Because it's not your life to take away. It's not for you to do that. And when you take that upon
yourself and you end your life,
		

			then that is something that Allah will punish you for extremely severely, because you took it upon
yourself to end something that was ALLAH had not given you have the permission, or the wherewithal
or the the allowance to do that. But you took it upon yourself to do that. Obviously, Allah has
given us this freedom in order to obey Him or disobey Him. If we couldn't end our lives, that
freedom, in a sense will be meaningless, right? So it doesn't mean Subhanallah Yes, Allah, this is
another example. Even your life, your health, your health. Subhanallah this is something many of us
need to think deeply about our health. And it is something that Allah will ask us about on the Day
		

			of Judgment, you need to make an effort to look after your health, you must brothers and sisters,
right?
		

			And because that's something that when we stand in front of Allah subhanaw taala, Allah will ask us,
Well, your life and what you did with it, your health and how you cared for it. So how you look
after your health is something that you will be accountable for, because it again is a gift that
Allah has given you. So again, even these things you can't think of themselves, you even these
things, you can't think of them as being your yours per se. Right. So this idea of ownership is in
itself something that is in some ways, antithetical to how we should be as believers. But this is
our nature, as Allah says in the Quran, beautified just giving you the meaning. In surah baqarah
		

			beautified in the hearts of men
		

			is land and gold, and well tilled land and golden businesses and your your, your your children and
the horses. I'm just giving the gist. I don't remember exactly. But this is the general gist of the
idea that Allah has made these things. We love these things. You see our hearts feel love for it.
Yes. So we have this attachment to those things. But of course in the end of the day, Subhan Allah,
this is just a gift from Allah. And so this is part of our Aikido is part of our belief also we
realized this world is nothing this world is worthless, as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
said that, you know, he told us that if there were if the if this world and everything it contains
		

			was worth even the wing of a mosquito, the wing of a mosquito, the most pesky troublesome
		

			annoying insects right Subhanallah that kills more human beings than Corona or anything else. Yeah.
Yes, malaria, the mosquito. The whole world is not worth the wing of a mosquito in the sight of
Allah. It's so worthless if it had even the weight of that wing of that mosquito. If it had the
value of even that much in the sight of Allah, he would not have let those rebellious people who
disbelieve and rebel against him, you would not even have let them drink water.
		

			This is to meet you think this world for Allah is nothing as the Prophet sallallahu alayhi wa sallam
he was walking with combat his companions they came across the rotting carcass of a dead goat. He
said Who Would Buy This for me for their hammer denaro with the smallest amount of money? They said,
Yeah, Rasul Allah, we wouldn't buy it for even if it was alive. We wouldn't buy it for that much,
but it's dead. What use do we have for it? The Prophet said, this world in Allah sight is more
worthless than this rotting carcass is in your sight.
		

			You see, brothers and sisters have a lot. So why do we attach so much worth to this world? That's
another thing to make us realize that in reality, we should not give that much worth to things of
this world. Even when the thief is coming to steal from us. It's not because of the worth of that
thing. It's because of the need for order. It's for the need for justice is because we need to fight
against tyranny and oppression and injustice and wrongdoing. And because a fundamental part of our
deen and being a Muslim is enjoying what is right and forbidding what is wrong? Yes, this is what is
it's about. It's not because we really care about these positions. Allah is the provider Allah is a
		

			result he will provide for us Subhanallah it's not about hanging on to the possession because it's
yours. That's not fundamentally what it's about. I don't believe that. I think the issue is the
issue of standing up against injustice and wrongdoing and tyranny and thuggery. That is something
that we should have as a value system for ourselves. That's how we live civilized lives, when we
stand up against wrongdoing. So that's the reason why, as for this world, what is this world we just
here for a passing moment? Brothers and sisters? So how are we so attached to the world and the
things of these world? These are the things that we need to remind ourselves about the ACA, as the
		

			Prophet said, you know, if you took a un How is that if you took a, a needle, and you dipped it in
the sea, and you see how much water is left on the needle, that is like the life in this world?
What's left on the needle, and the ocean? is like the
		

			scene SubhanAllah? So, what is this world? What is this life just a passing moment? Just like a
traveler who takes shade and the rest underneath the shade of the tree, then we're on our journey on
our way. These are things that will help us deal with the, you know, the endowment effect and other
similar things like that. Okay, because actually many of these things, okay, so and the other thing
practically, is a cat, obviously, is a cat is a reminder that this wealth is something that Allah
has given you, and other people have a right to emit a certain amount they have a right, and that
this is there to purify you of your stinginess, and to remind you that who gave you this wealth? So
		

			these are some practical things in Islam. Finally, I want to talk about some things where where is
it that we find the endowment effect is used to manipulate you? Okay? Well, anything that makes you
feel even for a moment that something belongs to you, they are using the endowment effect in order
to manipulate you to purchase and to hang on to that product. So test driving a car, yes, test
driving a car. One of the reasons why Apple
		

			they have these big stores everywhere, and they are told their sales team, you can go and play
around on their
		

			healer their products for as long as you like. And their staff are told not to intervene not to
interrupt except to encourage you to make a purchase. Because why that's the endowment effect
because the more time you spend with it, the more time it's in your hand, the more you feel it
belongs to you and the less you want to let it go. Yes, that's the whole thing with a 30 day free
trial. Try this mattress for free in your home. If you're not 100% satisfied, you can return it
after 60 days. They are relying on the endowment effect that once you have something in your
possession, you are you're very in an inclined
		

			To get rid of it, especially obviously, if the products just rubbish, the endowment effect is
probably not going to, you know, save you as a seller. But certainly in a competitive market, that's
it. Why are we so reluctant to change our energy suppliers? Why are we so reluctant often to change
our mobile phone suppliers? Why is the endowment effect with like, it's not I, when I was thinking
about it, maybe the endowment effect doesn't describe it properly. I think it just comes to that
thing that I talked about that feeling of the guy sitting in his airplane seat, you know?
		

			No, okay. Relax. That's the same thing. Oh, yeah, I got my, you know, I've got my gas sorted my
electricity. So in someone comes, I can give it to you cheaper? It's like, Dude, I just, you know,
sign the things I did that this and that I can save you a third on your bills. It's quite a lot of
money. Right?
		

			But you know, what, you're just comfortable where you are? This is normal. We want to feel
comfortable. It's not rational, though. Actually, really? Why would you want to waste money? It
doesn't make any, it's not that much of a hassle. But anyway, this is this is the endowment effects.
And this is how it's used. So anything like that, right? Where they have a 30 day free trial,
		

			where they get user trial product, try before you buy, you know, anything like that. Oh, one final
thing. Maybe you could use the endowment effect, as and I think we've started some people who used
it in doubt. If not, I'm not suggesting 100% I don't think anyone did this. Thinking that this was
an idea in order to get people to be Muslim. I don't think they ever imagined that, but it is
actually the endowment effect, you know, that try on the hijab thing. You know, the try on the
hijab, Hijab Day, or, you know, the Ramadan foster day of Ramadan.
		

			Yeah, even come and visit the mosque. These, you know, these are actually really good ways of
getting people to feel comfortable, because you know, what, once they've got the hijab on, they
might like it. Once they start fasting. They say, You know what, this is really good. They come to
the mosque, and this feel the vibe in the mosque is like, yeah, I feel at home here. Okay, so this,
this is actually a really, really good way of making people feel comfortable making them feel I'm
home. Yeah, this is, this is where I belong. This is mine. Yeah, I feel good. I don't really want to
leave here. That's, isn't that how we should make people feel as Muslims? Shouldn't we make them
		

			feel you've, you've come home, this is your home. This is where you should be. This is your nature.
This is your fifth row.
		

			This is the place we all need to return to. This is how we need to make people feel brothers and
sisters, right? Yes, this is how we need to make people feel. Please think about that. Especially
Muslims living in non Muslim lands. Do you think our mosques are places where an Englishman would
walk in and feel this is home? I feel I belong here? Or something very, very different? Do we even
let them in almost do even encourage them to come to the mosque? Unfortunately, not enough. So
brothers and sisters.
		

			This is a very, very interesting topic that we've just discussed about
		

			how let's just remind ourselves, why it is irrational. What is the problem with it? Is because when
we have something in opposition, when we have something in our possession, we imagine that it has a
lot more value than its real value, I want you to see and think about how you have the endowment
effect existing in your life in whatever aspects of life it may be your job, your relationship,
things that you own things that you possess things that you should sell, want to sell, but you're
not doing it, or many different areas, ideas that you have maybe, right? There's so many different
things, and why not look out for different ways in which people are manipulating you emotionally and
		

			psychologically, to get you to buy their products, even though it may not be the most rational
choice, or they may be trying to get you to buy into their ideas or follow their system.
		

			Right? Because it's not only things that you buy, it's ideas that we adopt, right? It's environments
in which we live. Oh,
		

			All of this comes under that topic. Fascinating. Isn't it amazing? The human mind Subhanallah
brothers and sisters has been a pleasure. Until next week, inshallah we'll have a look through your
comments because I'm too focused on talking to you. I haven't even put my eyes down on my computer
screen to see the comments that you've been making. So I apologize for those of you who have been
making comments and asking questions I've I was so absorbed in this fascinating subject. Until next
time, brothers and sisters May Allah bless you May Allah guide you, May Allah help you to know
yourself so that you can worship Allah even better. Allahumma Salli ala Muhammad, Allah Allah He was
		

			secondary you are Salam. Oh, and don't forget to share if you enjoyed this video, and to like and
subscribe, until next time Salam alaykum Warahmatullahi Wabarakatuh