The Economy You Think You Understand (You Don’t)
Why RAS Matters
Perspective Is the Most Distorted Economic Indicator
We speak about “the economy” as if it is shared, observed evenly, and broadly understood. It is not. What most people experience is a localized version shaped by where they live, how they spend, and what they are repeatedly exposed to. Over time, that experience becomes internally consistent, and consistency creates the illusion that you are seeing the whole system.
We are all guilty of RAS Bias. But is it thoughtlessness? That is the real question.
Are you Seeing the whole system? No one is. I am not. You are not.
The reticular activating system (RAS) filters what you notice. It prioritizes what aligns with your environment and suppresses what does not. Over time, it becomes highly efficient at reinforcing a narrow field of view.
You are not observing the economy objectively—you are observing the version your life has trained you to see. Sometimes it is over zealous and sometimes those are limiting beliefs but not everyone can be a millionaire.
In places like 30A, Seaside, Brentwood, or Mountain Brook, that version works. Food quality is assumed. Time is supported by other people’s labor. Systems operate in the background. Nothing about this feels excessive. It feels efficient. That is how the distortion sets in—not through extravagance, but through repetition.
The Economy We Actually Live In
Gayle and I live inside a system. Along 30A and in Costa Rica, the work we do and the lives we lead exist in a narrow, high-functioning segment of the market. The homes, the transactions, and the people we interact with are not representative of the broader economy. We understand that. But we do not lack awareness because we train our RAS to remain aware of the broader need. We work and are concentrated in a slice where liquidity is strong and friction is low.
We buy groceries without recalculating each decision. We do not always think of others do we? We eat well without thinking through trade-offs. Our home is maintained. Our time is supported. It feels normal because it is consistent. And then we go to Costa Rica, and nothing materially changes.
Different country, different backdrop, same structure. The home is there. It is managed. Life continues with continuity whether we are present or not. That should clarify something.
We are not moving between different economic realities. We are carrying our position into different environments. Which means we are not interacting with the baseline economy in either place. We are operating within a contained layer of it. A good layer. A functional layer. But a limited one. We strive to remain aware of and to interact with all layers of the economy with humor and humility. That is where we begin to disconnect from some that chose stratification over participation.
The Economy We Don’t See
At the same time, there is another system operating under very different conditions. In that system, decisions are governed by constraint. Food is not assumed; it is managed. Variability in income or cost is not an inconvenience; it is destabilizing.
The margin for error is narrow, and small disruptions carry consequences that compound quickly. This is not abstract. It is logistical. And from within a system where those constraints are not present, it is difficult to fully understand how that works day to day. Not intellectually—mechanically.
Try running the math on maintaining a consistent, quality diet at lower income levels and the model does not reconcile cleanly. That gap is the point. Not because it is surprising, but because it is largely invisible. The same reticular activating system that allows our lives to function efficiently also filters out most of that reality. Not intentionally. Structurally. Is that OK?
The Problem Is Not the Bubble
Let’s be clear about something. There is nothing wrong with living well. There is nothing wrong with success, or with serving clients at a high level, or with operating in markets that function efficiently. That is not the issue. The issue is believing that what you experience is representative. It is not. Neither at the high end or the low end.
And if you do not correct for that, your understanding of the economy and indeed your understanding of the human condition will remain narrow, your assumptions will drift, and your decisions—whether personal or professional—will be built on incomplete information. That is not a moral failure. It is a perceptual one.
Reprogramming What We Notice—and What We Do
The reticular activating system does not change because you agree with an idea. It changes because you repeatedly expose yourself to something different until it becomes part of what your brain recognizes as relevant. You may have to program it. “I enjoy meeting new people everyday now”. That without limits will cause you to start encountering new people.
That applies directly to how we give. Most people treat giving as occasional, situational, or emotional. At the far end of the spectrum some view it as status.
It shows up when it is convenient, or when something feels immediate enough to break through the filter. That approach does nothing to change perception because it is not consistent enough to matter. If you are serious about seeing the economy accurately, then part of your identity—not your surplus, your identity—has to include participation in the part of the system you do not naturally experience.
Said more simply, buy the beach house but do not discard the people in the community that make it possible for you to exist here.
That means directing time, attention, and capital in a way that is structured, repeatable, and embedded into how you operate.
Organizations like the Point Washington Medical Clinic in Santa Rosa Beach
exist inside that reality. Its function is straightforward: it provides medical care to working individuals and families who do not have reliable access to healthcare despite being part of the same local economy that supports the communities we live in. These are not disconnected people. They are part of the underlying system that makes the visible one function.
When you engage with something like that consistently—not once, not symbolically, but as part of how you operate—you are doing two things at the same time. You are contributing in a way that matters, and you are retraining what you see.
Because now your RAS has something new to register. Now the other side of the economy is no longer theoretical. It is present. And that is a good thing. To be here is great. To integrate to the wider cause of the community is our goal.
Seeing Clearly While Living Well
You are not going to live forever. But by all means live well. I do not judge anything. Really.
I do not judge real estate professionals that have a different style of doing business than us…you know 100 phone calls a day and buy now now now and, well, go ahead and dance on the edge of stripes like some encourage these days.
Integrity is not good or bad. It is the ability for the outside world to be able to look at you and predict behavior.
That is the one variable in this that is not negotiable. Behavior,
The homes, the markets, the transactions—all of it exists within a finite window. It is entirely acceptable to live well within that window. But core behavior that points to integrity is who you really are.
There is no virtue in pretending otherwise. Try not to live inside a narrow version of reality and ignore the broader system that makes that life possible. It makes your integrity more approachable and more humble.
The economy you experience is real. It is simply not complete. Live in it and enjoy what you have created for your family. I am not saying money is bad…far from it.
Just remember where it is placed in thought.
And once you understand that, the question is no longer whether the system is divided. It is whether you are willing to structure your life in a way that reflects that knowledge—both in how you see and in how you give.
Because if giving is not part of how you are wired, it will remain occasional. And if it remains occasional, you will never actually see the system you are operating inside. You will just continue to benefit from it.