Jacob's "Vibecession"

On the Biblical Parallel Between Pharaoh and Jacob

The 7 fat cows and the 7 lean cows of Pharaoh’s dream correspond not just to the 7 years of plenty and 7 years of famine in Egypt, but they allude to the 7 years Jacob worked for Rachel and the 7 years he worked again for Rachel after he was duped into marrying Leah. Why?

To teach that plenty and lack are psychological. Jacob works two identical jobs for two identical periods for two identical goals. But in the one, his mind is optimistic so the years fly by, and in the other his mind is despondent and resentful, and so they drag on. Jacob was cheated out of his first seven years by his father in law, Lavan, so he experienced his failure to get Rachel as a loss. If he had been told off the bat, however, that he would need to work 14 years for Rachel, he might have been happy.

In the short run, the economy isn't about objective reality, but about vibes, as Kyla Scanlon describes. Jacob experiences a “vibecession” after his first 7 years even though nothing has really changed for him—there’s no use crying over spilt milk. Just as a bad rain season can cause a famine, and thus, 7 lean cows, so Jacob experiences a psychological famine as his narrative about his work goes from one of meritocracy (working for a prize) to exploitation (working to collect a debt). Cue the “how it started” (7 fat cows), how it’s going meme (7 lean cows).”

The fat cows eat the lean ones because reality eventually catches up with expectation. Rachel is our expectation. Leah is our reality. Not because expectations are false or unreasonable, but because the serotonin hit we get from expecting a good outcome renders even the delivery of that expected good outcome less pleasurable, since we’ve already accounted for it—now if we don’t get it, we’re sad, and if we do get it were’ just relieved. The only way to protect oneself from psychological famine is not to expect anything, as the Stoics preached. Storing away the grain for later means not releasing the serotonin upon hearing good news, but waiting for the thing to transpire. Jacob’s story teaches us that serotonin, like grain, can be spent now or saved for later. Don’t spend it all in one place.