Some researchers have been studying “buffets” and their observation suggests that there is more going on at a buffet table than just diving into the sandwiches, wraps, samosas, sausage rolls, vegetarian quiche, nicely sliced pizzas to fit one’s mouth size, salads, and fruits etc. Buffets are “a microcosm of greed, sexual politics and altruism” (New Scientist December 2011) a site where our journey to the table and the choices we make are dictated by factors we may not even be conscious of.

Will certain choices lead to a delicious plateful when food has to be divided up? Of course that will depend on the sort of food on the “spread”. We would assume that in heading towards the buffet table people will pile up their small plates with their preferred option (meat for instance for the carnivores) rather than going for the vegetarian option. We should not rule out the possibility it may not pay to take your favourite food first. From a mathematical point of view if you are aware that the other diners hate chicken legs or sweet and sour chicken wings, then this is what you may go for lastly as there be more of these, the second time round. In others words if you are aware of the other’s preferences then you may be able to work backwards from your least favourite to maximise you intake and how much you can get on your plate. Of course, there is the small matter of eating more than your money’s worth so why not start with the expensive stuff?

And what about the predictable approaches: those we know who will go for what they always had (the boorish approach) or those who in their selection is mindful of what others delight in (gallant knight approach). What researchers discovered is that if the eaters act “boorish”, everyone ends up with a less satisfying meal, than if every person acts gallantly. Hence, their suggestion that it may be wise to be generous providing that there are not selfish eaters around: wishful thinking perhaps given human inclinations and ways in which we can be original in our transgressing!

We do know from experience though that there are those of us who rush headlong to the buffet table and who see satisfaction not in taste or favourite food but in the art of engineering piles of food on a small plate especially if you can only go only once at the table! The art of piling up food as high as a meter on small plates may serve you well. One software engineer even worked out equations, diagrams and online instructions as how ‘eaters’ can maximise their haul at the buffet table and these special meal deals. The art of such ‘high piling’ calls for creativity. So one may wish, for instance, to build a tower using a base of carrot sticks balanced around the rim of one’s plate in order to extend it and then start the piling. The important thing is that the foundation needs to start with strong and dry stuff. Insights of the parable of the wise and foolish builders may be helpful here!

But what about the patterns of our behaviour when it comes to the buffet? Are you surprise to learn that those of us with a high BMI index may locate ourselves closer to the feeding point than those with an average BMI, and that 71% of the former will face the food in comparison to 26% with an average weight? This is beside the point that the latter may also be back in seconds for a second helping! And what the group size – would this influence how we consume? Indeed, the group size will dramatically affect the number of calories consumed (35 % more than if you dine alone and in a group of eight perhaps a 90% increase). “Where two or three are gathered in my name…” does have a comforting ring!!! You can imagine how gender, ethnicity and other factors of socialization will influence our intake capacity. And try imagining the soul –searching that happens as we head for the dessert! One may have to take Luther at his word here: “sin boldly, grace abounds”!

Our location from or walk/run towards the buffet table is not some value-free exercise. The next time we head for the buffet table and start to “dig into” the offers before us and are faced with the “eat as much as you can” offer we may wish to think otherwise. It may be wise to offer grace before, during and after the “buffet run” as we remember those hungry mouths who cannot even reach a table, the source of our food and contemplate the importance of well-being. Eating faith-fully is quite a challenge!

© February 13, 2012

In the meantime the merchants of capitalism’s death – those very greedy earners of meteoric sums of money continue to grease their palms and pockets with extravagant amounts in bonuses. These are very happy people. Many others are unhappy having lost their jobs or source of income, unable find work and are faced with mounting debts. Would the bonuses make these human beings better bankers with a heart for the common good? Perhaps they will prove philosopher Jeremy Bentham right in his suggestions that if you want to know the right thing to do: ask yourself what will increase the happiness of most people, and decrease pain.

In the meantime, I have been wrestling with some of the economic jargons we are bombarded with and associated with the deep mess we are in. Here are some, with my own attempts at busting these, just to decrease pain….for the fun of it!

• AAA-rating: means that there is still some time before the battery life runs dry. Or like the 3 A* you will need to stand a chance for Ox-Bridge: welcome to the world of the privileged!
• Administration: means that when the crap hits the fan, rescue will arrive in a form of directed supervision to help you out of the mess. The courts will be calling the shots!
• Assets: that which will provide income -cunning ingenuity to beat an oppressive system
• Austerity: economic policy aimed at only one group of people – the already poor!
• Bailout: frantic struggle to rescue that which is sinking or already sunk.
• Bankruptcy: having you assets devalued in order to be liquidated (see administration).
• Bear/Bull Market: has nothing to do with animals though they conjure images of altar and sacrifice.
• BRIC: has nothing to do the construction business. It stands for Brazil, Russia, India and China – the rising [by the way not a new horror film ]
• Capital adequacy ratio: can be compared to a sponge: it estimates the ability to absorb losses!
• Credit crunch: has nothing to do with abdominal exercises, though its effect may spell forced starvation for some and natural weight loss/shrinking stomach for others.
• Credit default swap (CDS) is a sophisticated way to speculate on the misery of borrowers unable to repay
• Currency Peg: a fixed furnishing on which to hang out your devalued or worthless currency. This mechanism collapses when the currency in the central bank dries up!
• Core inflation: is another way to underscore that we continue to be screwed, and with central bankers starting to eat more than fingernails.

Ambrose Bierce (The Devil’s Dictionary) observed that “there is nothing new under the sun but there are lots of old things we don’t know.” It may be the case that the jargons we are bombarded with merely serve to cover up our ignorance and our inability to name the monster before us. Fancy and technical language aside: one word – greed – sums it up!

© jagessar January 24, 2012