Economics

 Economics is the study of the management of scare resources to meet unlimited human wants. This assumes that humans' wants are unlimited. But what if we can transcend this idea and limit our wants, to be satisfied with what we have? Would that make us less human?

I think I would have been suited to a life in academia, studying concepts and doing research to improve theories. I think I can get by with relatively little - I don't seem to be driven by the usual material search for more and more "stuff". This is why I sort of like communism.

I have to research communism more, if I can muster the intellectual stamina and commitment. "Das Kapital", by Marx and Engels, seems like a more intuitive theory than the typical capitalist-economy. The abstract idea of the market seems very artificial and elusive - non real. But communism seems to imply humans are something more than just workers. Maybe we're not, but I don't like to think of us as "monkeys in suits" either.

What about the economist who does research in their study or office in some tower in a university? Are they motivated by "unlimited human wants" and materialism? Perhaps some people are motivated by more than just things, they search for and crave ideas. I think I am one of those people.

Intellectual curiosity can be a good thing, but someone once told me "curiosity killed the cat". I have to put more work into research and search for ideas (probably using Wikipedia) in order to advance my need for curiosity-quenching.