Your best friend criticizes you, then offers you a compliment. research suggests: the compliment would soften the blow of the criticism, but the combination will still leave you distressed. you will be delighted with the compliment and ignore the criticism. the compliment and criticism will cancel each other out, leaving you in the same state you started in. you will question your friend's reasons for giving the compliment, but not question the reasons for the criticism.

Norman jones, an economic historian at the university of utah, has described the views of the ancient greek philosopher aristotle on interest: aristotle defined money as a good that was consumed by use. unlike houses and fields, which are not destroyed by use, money must be spent to be used. there- fore, as we cannot rent food, so we cannot rent money. moreover, money does not reproduce. a house or a flock can produce new value by use, so it is not unreasonable to ask for a return on their use. money, being barren, should not, therefore, be expected to produce excess value. thus, interest is unnatural. what did aristotle mean in arguing that money is “barren”? why would money being barren mean that lenders should not charge interest on loans? do you agree with aristotle’s reasoning? briefly explain.