Relativity/Absolutism & Mind/Matter

Consider the stock market. To say "stock values rising is a good thing" is to be Absolutist. Actually it depends what your position Relative to a stock is. I just sold and the stock is still rising - this is a bad thing. If I had shorted the stock it would have been even worse so I'm somewhere in the middle. Even if I had not sold I only had 25% of my potential cash invested so I was still missing out.

There is a fact however that stock values are rising. This is the realm of matter.

Whether this is a good or a bad thing in reality depends upon our position relative to this fact and this occurs in the mind.

Thus the matter/mind contrast is actually the absolute/relative contrast.

This solves the old joke. An Irishman runs home behind a bus to save £1 then he realises that he could have saved £10 by running home behind a taxi.

This seems true but it is also nonsense.

In reality Absolutely he has no extra money after his activity give this a value of £100. But relative to a position in his mind he is different. Relative to the bus journey that £100 is £1 better off, and relative to the taxi that same £100 is £10 better off.

In the stock market the value of my stock (in GBP) is currently remaining unchanged because I have sold. But if the GBP falls against the dollar I am losing money, if stocks fall I am gaining GBP... but only relatively.

Looking more deeply hopwever whatever we posit as a fact only stands relative to some other situation which we have identified as false... this is why we call it a fact! The sun rises every morning is a fact (a priori since the sunrise is the morning) but we only consider it a fact because mornings don't come without sunrises... it is fact then because it is relative!