A problem in the West is that we now have too much. Several times a year, we lug a carful of clothes, books, and miscellany to the local charity shop.
There is no longer excitement from acquisition; it is rare now when something delights. Even overseas travel has become mundane from it occurring too often, and I had loved exploring new locales.
I am reduced receiving (gratefully) gift cards for the local high-end restaurant as presents from family. That I still enjoy.
Thank you for this engaging piece Tom. It resonates with my own organising principle of applied curiosity which cycles through 5 stages (linearly but also helically if you like) of imagination - creativity - discernment - coherence and judgement.
Love it, and this new age, assuming corporations ultimately adapt (and I too witness them struggling with the potential of AI), is full of new possibilities that will better serve us as consumers.
I do have one instinctive concern, though, with "making people want things, and far more focused on making what people actually want", and that is, will we get brilliant at building faster horses and forge to truly innovate (eg technology leaps)?
Tom, this is good! The industrial revolution didn't just change products. It changed what "company" even meant.
A problem in the West is that we now have too much. Several times a year, we lug a carful of clothes, books, and miscellany to the local charity shop.
There is no longer excitement from acquisition; it is rare now when something delights. Even overseas travel has become mundane from it occurring too often, and I had loved exploring new locales.
I am reduced receiving (gratefully) gift cards for the local high-end restaurant as presents from family. That I still enjoy.
I suppose 'not spending' can be a good thing.
Thank you for this engaging piece Tom. It resonates with my own organising principle of applied curiosity which cycles through 5 stages (linearly but also helically if you like) of imagination - creativity - discernment - coherence and judgement.
Love it, and this new age, assuming corporations ultimately adapt (and I too witness them struggling with the potential of AI), is full of new possibilities that will better serve us as consumers.
I do have one instinctive concern, though, with "making people want things, and far more focused on making what people actually want", and that is, will we get brilliant at building faster horses and forge to truly innovate (eg technology leaps)?
Thanks, Tom — love the bits you put together & the crazy insight behind them!
The fight against efficiency and data driven everything