R. Nelson Nash
First published on June 2nd, 2015
NOISE: a loud or unpleasant sound
Full Definition of NOISE by Merriam-Webster
1: loud, confused, or senseless shouting or outcry
2a : sound; especially: one that lacks agreeable musical quality or is noticeably unpleasant
b: any sound that is undesired or interferes with one’s hearing of something
c: an unwanted signal or a disturbance (as static or a variation of voltage) in an electronic device or instrument (as radio or television); broadly: a disturbance interfering with the operation of a usually mechanical device or system.
Have you ever noticed that we all are completely surrounded with noise in our daily lives? Even as I write these words I can easily hear the noise my computer is making and there is the noise that the keyboard makes each time a key is stroked. There is the noise that our air conditioning system makes. And, there is also the noise from the garbage truck on the street just outside my window! Thankfully, the truck will be gone shortly.
In my younger days I flew for over 28 years as a pilot for the Alabama Army National Guard. Fixed wing, piston engine, propeller driven planes, “low and slow” kind of aircraft. They make a lot of noise! After completing a mission that lasted for several hours and then getting into my car for the drive home, it was always so apparent how quiet my car was in contrast to the experience in the airplane just a short time earlier. I could hardly hear the noise my car was making. Yet, by the time I got home, maybe 20 minutes later, I now was conscious of the noise of the car.
Maybe some of you have been subject to a hearing test where they put you into a booth where you are insulated from sound. But, have you ever experienced total silence in the outdoor world? My wife and I have been to Sedona, AZ many times. On one occasion we rented a car and toured “the boonies” – away from all civilization. We parked the car and climbed one of those buttes. It was a beautiful day. Not even noise from wind. No birds chirping. No insect noise. No noise of any kind! In contrast with the kind of noise that usually surrounds us — it was kind of weird! When you experience this sort of thing you know immediately that something is different. But, highly enjoyable! The very thought of it makes me want to go back there!
For my birthday present several years ago, my wife gave me a Bose Noise Cancelling Headset since I travel a lot on airplanes. Have you ever experienced one of those things? It is wonderful. Just put on the headset and turn on the switch and it’s a whole new world. You can still hear announcements from the flight attendants and pilots, and even muffled voices of those people around you. But the usual airplane noise is practically gone! Nice! It makes reading a good book a lot easier, especially when you put foam earplugs in your ears first and then put on the noise-cancelling headset.
But, you may have also noticed, there is a huge amount of other types of noise that surrounds us. For instance, go to a drug store or other such emporium that sells magazines. Can you believe the volume of nonsense that is contained on those shelves? Magazines that tell you what Charlie Sheen is doing today. What are the Kardashians up to now? What has Lindsay Lohan been arrested for this week? All kinds of essential information like that! The list could go on for several pages. Does anyone really care about all this sort of stuff? When I’m traveling on airplanes I am astounded at what I see people reading. I wonder what those people think about.
Maybe it’s because I have been involved in the financial world for over 50 years that it is so apparent to me that the greatest noise to which we are all subjected is coming from the financial world. It is filled with utter nonsense that is, for the most part, absolutely worthless.
If you would like to challenge my assertion on this matter, then I encourage you to read a few books that will support my position. Try reading Extraordinary Popular Delusions and The Madness of Crowds by Charles MacKay. Read The Failure of The New Economics by Henry Hazlitt. For an entertaining (and accurate) perspective I suggest Eat The Rich by P.J. O’Rouke. In fact, just read anything by P.J. He is funny! And, oh, yes, be sure and read Myths, Lies, and Downright Stupidity: Get Out The Shovel — Why Everything You Know Is Wrong by John Stossel.
If these four books don’t do the job for you, then take a look at the recommended reading list on our website. You will find it under the Resources tab.
Another example will help in getting my point established. I will never forget the first time I heard music on a high-fidelity record player. I realize that you may be one of the “millennial generation” or maybe, even a generation a little older and that you don’t know what a record player was. Since this fact is not really a part of this paper, I suggest you just go ask your grand-father about it.
I could not believe my ears! How fantastic to hear such clarity! I forget the name of the maker of the instrument. Anyway, I could not wait to get a cabinet model by Magnavox. Wow! Joy supreme! But, after several months of listening to recordings on this machine – would you believe it – I could hear the noise the turntable was making!!
My conclusion was that I should have spent about four times more money and bought “a real professional hi-fi set.” I had a close friend who had one of those machines. So, I made a lot of visits with him to listen to his recordings. Again – would you believe it – after a while I could hear the noise his Garrard turntable was making, too!! With more exposure, our awareness becomes more developed.
Having been a student of the Austrian school of economic thought for 58 years plus over 50 of involvement with the financial world I believe I have developed, to some degree, the ability to recognize financial noise.
In order to cope with this “noise filled financial world” what we all need is the equivalent of a “financial noise cancelling headset.” You will have to develop your own. No one can do it for you. You will have to learn to recognize financial nonsense when you see it and don’t spend any of your valuable time examining it because it is wasted effort. But, you can get expert help from an Authorized Practitioner of The Infinite Banking Concept as taught by the Nelson Nash Institute. To understand — and practice – this concept requires a coach to get started and to guide you for many years into the future until you have developed the ability to tune out all the financial noise that you encounter. This is not to imply that the concept is complicated. To the contrary, it is very simple and practical. It is just different from all the financial noise that surrounds us.
The Nelson Nash Institute is revealing the power of a fundamental financial instrument — one that has been around for a couple of hundred years — that has been obscured by the financial noise that dominates our current world. But if you can learn to tune out the noise and listen to the truth, it can change your life!