Apparently, there is ” Wisdom of the Crowds “..” A Collective Bias “.
Though not sure with wisdom and bias– can the twain meet?
Since decades, marketers and politicians have been working to exaggerate cultural distress, a hack on our emotions.
Mind you, it’s not about the emotional distress of not having a roof, or not being able to care for your kids or deal with trauma..
..but the manufactured cultural distress of ‘ modern advanced societies ‘.
Like the invented shame of not having the latest smartphone or a new suit for the party..
It’s the dissatisfaction of knowing that something ‘better’ is available, and the invented discontent that comes from the peer pressure of being left out or left behind.
A vocabulary called FOMO(Fear of Missing Out) – like the social shame of not having enough presence on social media..
or the FOMO that watching other people presenting nothing but happiness online can create..
Fear of this sort of cultural distress pushes us to simply spend money to avoid it..Making a budget is hard, paying for not making one is easy.
It turns out that selling an easy and convenient way to avoid social pain is a nearly boundless formula for corporate growth..
We humans are always going to find moments of cultural distress, and it’s up to each of us to decide what to trade (in the short run and the long run) to deal with it.
Perhaps it makes sense simply to acknowledge that it’s present. That would be a good starting point, isn’t it?
People like us do things like this..ready, steady..set sail!