All Episodes

July 18, 2025 21 mins

In this HIGH-VALUE episode, Andrew walks us through a practical framework for evaluating the things we pursue in life—whether purchases, relationships, goals, or beliefs—using 6  fundamental categories of Value:

 

  1. Survival Value
  2. Utility Value
  3. Economic Value
  4. Entertainment Value
  5. Aesthetic Value
  6. Happiness Value

 

He explores the idea that “Value is largely a projection”  as well as  how we assign Value, why Value is subjective, and how understanding these 6 categories can improve the decision-making process. From the Crown Jewels to a can of beans, from gold investments to meatloaf memories, Reed illustrates with real-life examples how Value is more of a projection than inherent Reality. Whether you're reassessing your next big move or trying to understand what really matters, this episode offers a powerful lens to help answer the series’ central question:
“What are you willing to throw your life away on?”


Chapter Markers

(00:00) Introduction: The Nature of Life and Perception

(01:21) Defining “Value” as a Life Driver

(04:01) The 6 Categories of Value

(06:13) 1. Survival Value 

(07:32) 2. Utility Value

(08:22) 3. Economic Value

(08:47) 4. Entertainment Value

(09:15) 5. Aesthetic and 6. Happiness Values

(10:22) Gold vs. Houses: A Value Breakdown

(14:59) The Knife, Mom’s Meatloaf & Canned Beans

(17:22) Scarcity, Knowledge & the Value of Ideas

(19:25) Reframing Hardship as Positive Value

(20:54) Closing Thoughts

Song: Twisted World - andrew reed & the liberation

Album: As a Bird of the Air… (Trilogy I Album 1)

Social Media Links


www.mvi.life

Official Website: www.AndrewReedMusic.com

Facebook: @andrewreedandtheliberation 

X: @AndrewReedMusic 

Instagram: @AndrewReedMusic 

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/artist/2Lx7DnbB5qyt7uwV8yeHwE

Youtube Channel: @andrewreedtheliberation

MVI Phone #: (828) 698-5885

Click here to view the episode transcript.

Watch out for the next message, every two weeks on Fridays @ 7:01am (EST)!

“Value really drives our lives to a great extent… because we’re constantly making decisions, purchase decisions, directions or courses for our lives—what we’re going to throw our life away on.”


Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:12):
What are you willing to throw your life away on? With
Andrew Reed and The Liberation.It's a serious question, one
worth pondering. Am I living thelife I want, an intelligent
life, or something else? How canI have a better experience of
life?
These are some of the questionsexplored in this series of

(00:34):
messages without the brag andthe advertisement, getting
beyond even human institutionsand society into the wilderness,
nature, the reality of how lifeactually operates on this
planet. These messages rangefrom intimate recordings from
the awakened forest to concerts,national conferences, and

(00:56):
broadcasts on wide array ofphilosophical topics.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
Here we are this fine morning again in the waking
forest. Life is happening. Lastnight there was a huge storm on
the mountain. Today it'srelatively peaceful. Thus, the
oscillation of life continues.
And I'd like to talk about whatI feel is an important topic and

(01:26):
that's the topic of value. It'sa topic that I've given
considerable attention tobecause value really drives our
lives to a great extent becausewe're constantly making
decisions, purchase decisions,directions or courses for our
lives, what we're going to throwour life away on. So value is

(01:49):
involved because what is thehuman organism really doing?
We're functioning again like theamoeba or like all life. We're
going towards the perceived gainor value or positive.
We're going away from thosethings that don't affirm life,
things that could kill us orharm us or cause us sadness or
whatever. Thus, value is part ofthat equation. Now, with that

(02:15):
said, value is a projection.It's something that we assign to
objects, or relationships, or itcan be ideas, or whatever. So
they're projected onto thingsand thus this means that they
are self created to a largeextent.
And let's just add the othervariable here is that no two

(02:39):
individuals project the samevalue on things, just as though
two people can't have the sameviews. I mean, you can be part
of a group or going to a churchor other gathering of supposed
people with the same beliefs,but really no two individuals
have the same perception. Or isit even possible that they

(03:02):
experience the world in the sameway because they're not living
in that particular position? So,value therefore is very much an
individual proposition. Andagain, this to me, you know,
adds flavor and adds some spiceto the process of life.

(03:24):
One example I'd like to useright out of the gate is the
crown jewels. Here's this thingin the British Empire that is
worth untold amounts of money.Right? But yet, a child might be
given the crown jewels andthey'll play with it for about

(03:45):
five minutes and then find acardboard box that's been
discarded more interesting toplay with. Thus, the concept of
value is represented in theextremes of that example.
So, in my contemplations, I'vebasically come up with six

(04:08):
categories of value. And theutility behind these
categorizations is that the moreboxes that are checked as you're
contemplating your purchasedecisions, the directions for
your life, what you're going tothrow your life away on, the
better the decision. Now withthat said, if you have something

(04:30):
that just checks one box, that'spretty good. But most of the
time the more boxes that arechecked where your decision
satisfies these things, thebetter you're going to feel
about it and probably the betterdecision you're going to make.
And so let me just list them outand then I'll elaborate on them

(04:53):
a little bit.
The first is survival value.Second is utility value. Third
is economic value. Fourth isentertainment value. Fifth is
aesthetic value.
And the sixth point is happinessvalue. And as I go through these

(05:18):
things, obviously you'reassigning value along the way
and the lines will blur. You'llsee that entertainment value,
happiness value, well, they kindof go together. Well, of course,
I mean, language itself is alittle bit squishy. Life itself
is a bit messy, is it not?

(05:40):
And we muddle our way throughoften. But the point is there is
kind of a main thrust behindeach of these categories and by
having some type of definitionor lines between them, again, it
helps us and that's the power oflanguage. So survival value.
Here we are, beings that areprotoplasm, meaning that we have

(06:04):
to seek our energy from sourcesoutside of ourselves. Obviously
we would assign a lot of valueto what?
Food or those things thatpreserve our organism. We need
to maintain a relatively stablebody temperature, so therefore
the external climate and allthat makes a difference. We have

(06:27):
to be able to fight off threatswhether they're from society or
nature. All those things comeinto this really the survival
value category. Again, we'reprotoplasm and we have to get
with this.
We're not like a plant that canjust sit in the sun and use as
chlorophyll just to enjoy theday and be in the breeze. So

(06:52):
survival value, food, shelter,clothing, means of defense.
Okay, all of those are obvious.And again, it's very similar to
the amoeba, the single celledorganism who is going towards
food or glimmers of warmth,anything that's life affirming,

(07:15):
going away from pain, thingsthat would threaten life,
because that's just the way thatlife works and that provides
great movement, almost in a,again, electromagnetic type of
way. That is movement.
So most of us get this valuepoint. The next is utility

(07:35):
value. This is things that makelife easier. This is a
dishwasher. This is a knife.
This is a computer. All of thosethings make life easier, you
know, rather than spending tenhours doing the laundry, I mean
we can have it done practically,probably in an hour depending on
the cycle that you select, andthat's utility value, and that's

(07:58):
worth something to us. Thirdpoint is economic value. This is
normally money value and all ofus get that, that we have to
shell out a certain number ofguacamoles or whatever for
whatever we want and we'll paymore for things we value highly
and less for things that wedon't. So we get that,

(08:20):
especially since we live inwhat?
A transactional world. Fourthpoint is entertainment value.
And we pay for entertainment.And I perceive that
entertainment is actually thefundamental energy of the
universe because we're alwaysrunning away from boredom. We

(08:41):
want to go to the new, theexciting, we want to improve our
lives and that seems natural.
We go even to get scared to themovies and put ourselves
sometimes in pickles. Maybe thatwasn't such a good choice but
there's entertainment wrapped upin that. The fifth category of

(09:01):
value is aesthetic value. Thishas to do with art and beauty.
So when we go to the artinstitute in Chicago, like me
and my daughter do often, yes,we're looking at that Van Gogh,
we're marveling.
And yes, it is a form ofentertainment, but it's it's a
different form of entertainmentthan, for example, a circus ride

(09:24):
or being chased by a bear orplaying a game or something like
that. And the sixth point iswhat happiness value, which
really probably bleeds into alot of the other categories, but
I'll just say this happiness, asense of deep inner
satisfaction, contentment, yeah,that's worth something to us and

(09:49):
most of us would pay for thattype of thing. And so, with
these categories, again, theutility value is that we can
take a look at our purchasedecisions and put it against
these categories and maybe feelbetter about what we do. Let's

(10:09):
take gold for an extremeexample. And this is a very
personal one for me becausebasically I probably watched too
many infomercials and wasconvinced that the economy would
collapse, so what?
I bought gold or preciousmetals. One of the worst
decisions I've ever did. But Itook a, I mean, a fair amount of

(10:32):
money and I put it into gold andsilver and all that. And then I
sat on it for about eight yearsas it really didn't do much. In
fact, it went down and then, ofcourse, I wanted to get my money
back.
But soon as it got to a pointwhere I could get my money back,
maybe make a little bit, I soldit and proceeded to buy some

(10:55):
properties, you know, some somehouses. But let's take a look at
gold against this grid and thencompare it to the houses. Well,
does it have survival value?Well, I mean, I suppose you
could take a big chunk of thisand heave it at somebody in a
defensive type mode, but itreally doesn't have much

(11:19):
survival value. You can't eatit.
Utility value. Well, I guess youcould use it for a doorstop or
something like that but it'sheavy and really impractical to
move around. It does haveeconomic value and that's really
the reason that that peoplepurchase it. But it's a great

(11:41):
illustration of just theprojection of value because
inherently, I mean gold, yeah,they used to use it for
fillings, they don't even dothat anymore. Silver has a
little bit more value,especially if they're going to
start using more solar panelsand things like that or
different components of, youknow, fighter jets and stuff.

(12:04):
So there's some value there justfrom a use value or utility
value. But economics is reallythe main thing behind precious
metals. Entertainment value, tome, that's even questionable.
Again, in my projection ofvalue. I'm sure that you might
have some fine coins or maybeyou could have it melted into a

(12:28):
statue or something like that.
But there's not a lot ofentertainment value really.
Aesthetic value, the same thing.Maybe you have the statue or
coin that symbolizes art andbeauty or a Japanese pot that
has the crack that's filled inwith the gold. I mean, that that

(12:48):
is beautiful. And thenhappiness.
Yeah. You may get some happinessfrom that gold of just knowing
that you have it. But I foundwhen I went to sell it, they
couldn't even handle it in mostplaces. And when I ended up
selling it, what did I buy? Ibought a few houses and
properties.

(13:09):
And let's compare that to thelist. Well, does it have
survival value? Yes. I mean youcould go in these things, warm
up, get out of the weather, allthat. Do they have utility
value?
Sure. I mean you can go intoyour dwelling, you can do work,
you can do all kinds ofdifferent things, watch TV,
rest, create value there. And itsurely has utility value because

(13:33):
you don't have to erect astructure every time you get
sleepy. So there's a conveniencefactor. Certainly it has
economic value.
We see the price of housingrising all the time. And
normally for a lot of folks thatis one of the main or most

(13:53):
valuable assets they have. Andso, yeah, the house checks that
box, certainly. Forentertainment value, absolutely.
Your house can be a great sourceof entertainment even when
you're fixing it up like I didwhen I was coming out of some
really rough financial times,and that's happened a few times

(14:14):
in my life.
But that process of making thatproperty beautiful, enjoying it
and then everything that you cando within that structure, yeah,
there's entertainment value,aesthetic value. As you work on
it and are entertained in thatprocess, can step back and
admire your work. That's a greatfeeling which leads us to the

(14:36):
last point of happiness andcontentment. Yeah, it's great to
own your property, and see whatyou've done with your two hands
or with your ingenuity orwhatever. So, again, gold really
only hits the economic value, atleast in my mind, whereas a

(14:56):
house checks almost all of them.
So therefore that's a betterdecision. A knife is another
great example. It has survivalvalue, I mean you can procure
food with it, It has utilityvalue in that you can cut limbs
and pieces of twine. Haseconomic value certainly.

(15:17):
Depends on different blades,different handles, all that.
It has entertainment values. Youcan throw a knife. You can enjoy
the process of using the knife,even sharpening the knife. It
has an aesthetic value or atleast a lot of them do. Some of
them not so much, but if it hasa nice handle, nice blade, nice
shape, yeah, you look at it andyou admire it.

(15:38):
Then the happiness value comesfrom, again, the achievement of
using it, the happiness ofhaving it, having gained the
skills to use it. So again, aknife is another illustration of
something that really checks alot of the boxes. But then you
can take mom's meatloaf,something that I cherish. Well,

(16:00):
survival value, you could say,well, it is food, but you know,
that's kinda not the main thing.There's certainly some economic
value utility.
No. The big thing isentertainment there. This is
great. I love it and it makes mehappy. Aesthetics, I don't know
if we're taking pictures.

(16:21):
Some people take pictures oftheir food and admire it later.
So that one gets a little weakor the other the can of beans,
the generic can of beans thatyou get from Sam's Club or
whatever. You could say, yes.It's got some survival value.
Yeah.
You certainly can eat it. Bututility value, yes. It is
convenient. There's a smalleconomic value. It's not like

(16:44):
you're gonna pay a lot of moneyfor a can of beans.
Entertainment value, I don'tknow, maybe you could dry it out
and play don't spill the beansor whatever aesthetics. I
haven't seen too much bean artaround. Happiness value, again,
that's another questionablething, whether that can of beans
really delights you. So our listof categories serves us well in

(17:11):
making us feel that we're goingin the right direction, we're
making good choices. And let mejust add a few things in closing
about value.
There's scarcity value. Ifthere's not much of something,
for example, they always say,Oh, they're not making any more
land, which is a true statement,There's scarcity and what does

(17:32):
that do? That runs up the priceof things. There's the value of
knowledge, know how. If you putagainst that grid, we know that
even the form that we get thatknowledge changes the value.
For example, a digital version,in my mind, has less value

(17:52):
because it's less reliable. Yes,it is convenient in modern
society, but when the power'soff like it is in the mountain
or it happens and has thepossibility of happening of
course in life, a book,especially if it has good
illustrations and photos, is ofhigher value because you can

(18:16):
always get at it. But again, isprojection and in a lot of ways
it's tied to wealth. And to me,this profound idea of what
wealth is, is really fullyexperiencing life. I mean, when
you take a walk, you're not justtrying to go some place, you're

(18:38):
enjoying the process of thewalk.
When you're eating your foodyou're actually tasting your
food rather than being in aproduction or productivity
mindset just to get through. Andso, the value of ideas, which of

(19:00):
course I think is among thehighest values and things to
contemplate, is an importantthing. Why? Because it shapes
our experience of life. Becausevalue is a projection, the ideas
that we hold in our minds, to alarge extent, shape, again, the

(19:23):
experience of life.
Whether we deem something good,bad, mediocre, this projection I
mean, if you choose to have anattitude that looks at all life
as positive, as affirming, thateven when bad things happen to
us we ask ourselves, What islife trying to teach me here?

(19:46):
That makes that hardship or thathard time much more tolerable.
And perhaps even a moreenjoyable situation like when
you get sick and you go, Wow, Iget to watch TV today. Yeah, I
don't feel great. Or maybe I'vebeen pressing myself too much so

(20:11):
it basically breaks the normalroutines of life and gives us
really time or space tocontemplate life.
Again, taking a negative andlooking at it with a different
idea or perspective. So thevalue of ideas to me is probably

(20:31):
the most paramount thing to keepin mind. So that's it. Value.
What it is, it's a projection,it's something we assign to
things, relationships, ideas,and it's something worth
exploring.

Speaker 1 (20:54):
Thank you for listening. If you need anything
further, just go to mvi.life.
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

Stuff You Should Know
Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

The Breakfast Club

The Breakfast Club

The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.