What Knowledge Matters?

What Knowledge Matters? by Tom Macpherson, Dorfman Value Investments

In 1888, a Harvard professor in biology gave a speech at the Lowell Foundation about the abilities of species to survive and thrive in a constantly evolving environment. During that speech he made a point that most successful species are good at two defined behaviors – finding nutrition and reproducing. Other specialized behaviors – from eating only plants from the yew tree to shooting insects from the sky with squirts of water – were interesting but essentially dangerous in species’ survival and proliferation. As a more modern biologist wrote – first bread and water then caviar.

I bring this up because we think some of the best value investors focus...