We are different from all other species in that we have an innate drive to improve our lives. Improvement initially was getting food easier. After that came getting out of a cave and building a safe shelter, one can deduct the rest, but in essence, fulfilling one need, and the next one will come up. We evaluate the state of our lives as either positive or negative. The positive states do not cause stress or are not on top of mind. The negative issues are the ones that bother us the most. Every day we go hungry, so we cancel that negative state by eating.

We are not driven by what is positive in our lives. Our action comes from what is negative. We are negative driven. Which I think is sad, but that is how society has evolved. If we all strive for what is positive, the world would be a completely different place. For one, there would be no wars.

The negatives of our lives are summed up nicely by the seven deadly sins. In each, there is dopamine and serotonin craving to self-satisfaction. Only evolution will reveal our species dark and weak secrets and let us dwindle into mediocrity compared to those we slaughtered and disrespected. The industry made sure they know each sins bliss point. It is a fine art, and we are used every day in labs to test what they are. We are our lab rats.

I guess my blasphemy against the human race needs a solid example. The profound psychological basis on which the meme ‘The Jones’s’ is based will bend your bony finger away from my gestalt. What the Jones’s have, I want better. In an age where technology is the vehicle of our thinking, the cellphone must be the pinnacle of three of the seven deadly sins. We are so convinced that we need the latest and the best, that using anything but, will drive us too far behind our peers, never to recuperate. So we are told. So now we believe. That is why we buy.

Every marketing effort is aimed to convince us that we cannot be productive with the latest and the best.

Greed, pride and envy blind us from the law of diminishing returns. The gap between cost and efficiency is disregarded because we all know that second-best is best. Second-best will release cash flow. It will set you free from the ‘angst’ of being rural. Our mental grip on the myth of the latest and best is comparable to a meth addict. At least a meth addict addiction is for something tangible.

The gap between the latest device, car, laptop, speaker or shoe is not much different than one a year old. But the price difference is enormous. If there is no significant difference in productivity or efficiency in communicating on a messaging app between a cellphone that’s a year old and a new one, then you are vain. Sorry, but I said it. You are shallow. Don’t come and work for me. You will not get the latest car and phone. You will get the optimum between efficiency and cost. Don’t come with an argument that the most recent technology will make more money. Hard work and proper cash flow management make great companies. Not dopamine infused techno-babble.

Protestors I am talking out of my own experience. I’ve had the best and the second-best. Honestly, there is no difference between the two for typical day to day work (Note to everyone, I do not include gaming apps and other vain selfy social media apps). Social media is a different issue, and I will attack it later in a ‘diatribe’.

Set yourself free with the minimum effective dose of what you need to get by. Don’t let manufacturers hook you on false promises and hollow needs. It’s not about you. It is about their profit margins no matter what.