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Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

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Re: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

#91

Post by DangitBobby »

RandomLensman wrote: post #72

"Unnecessary" is such an odd category: humans could live in caves, for example. Who determines what is necessary? Is art necessary? Music? Nice food? This seems often tangled in some odd moral/theological origin, i.e. possessions are frowned upon. I like to be shown new things to try, for example. So some advertising I actually like. Is my life planned by large corporations? From my work there I would say not, as mos…

The author seems to indicate that what makes something "unnecessary" in this context is when it very temporarily scratches an itch but does nothing to meaningfully improve your quality of life in the longterm. What would really improve your life is less money, fewer purchases, and more free time.

Re: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

#92

Post by throwthere »

tonyedgecombe wrote: post #44
throwthere wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It’s kind of an interesting thought experiment. Think for a second how much many of our incomes depend on ad revenue. Certainly if a large contingent of consumers massively cut their spending we have to work harder and longer for the same pay. And so on across all jobs producing discretionary goods and services.

>Think for a second how much many of our incomes depend on ad revenue. I don't think advertising makes that much difference. Most people spend all their earnings. The only thing advertising does is direct where it is spent. >Certainly if a large contingent of consumers massively cut their spending we have to work harder and longer for the same pay. If we all did it then we wouldn't be working longer and harder for th…

  > I don't think advertising makes that much difference. Most people spend all their earnings. The only thing advertising does is direct where it is spent.
Even if it were true that advertising only directed where money was spent, there'd still be 2/3 less money to go to advertising or anything else if everyone was making 1/3 pay.

  > If we all did it then we wouldn't be working longer and harder for the same pay.
I don't understand what you're trying to say. Economies of scale mean that you're more productive with more consumption. IE) If you write code for a living, you're generating more value the more people who use it. If less people use it, you have to work harder to get the same level of value and the same pay.

Re: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

#93

Post by RandomLensman »

DangitBobby wrote: post #91
RandomLensman wrote: post #72

"Unnecessary" is such an odd category: humans could live in caves, for example. Who determines what is necessary? Is art necessary? Music? Nice food? This seems often tangled in some odd moral/theological origin, i.e. possessions are frowned upon. I like to be shown new things to try, for example. So some advertising I actually like. Is my life planned by large corporations? From my work there I would say not, as mos…

The author seems to indicate that what makes something "unnecessary" in this context is when it very temporarily scratches an itch but does nothing to meaningfully improve your quality of life in the longterm. What would really improve your life is less money, fewer purchases, and more free time.

Again, why is short-term pleasure wrong? My life would not be improved by less money, by the way. More free time, yes, fewer purchases, not necessarily.

Re: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

#94

Post by loftyal »

pipthepixie wrote: post #30
martincmartin wrote: post #4

Earlier quoted context omitted.

FIRE = Financial Independence, Retire Early for those who don't know.

I like the concept. There are even young people experimenting with retirement but for typically one year, also known as a 'gap year' where they don't work/study - they just explore.

This gap year has been pretty common in Europe/Aus/NZ for a while. Lots of young people do it. We even have visas for it called "working holidays" so they can work a part-time bar job etc, so you dont need to save up much to do it.

Re: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

#95

Post by stjohnswarts »

ilamont wrote: post #5

Western economies, particularly that of the United States, have been built in a very calculated manner on gratification, addiction, and unnecessary spending. Calculated, like in planned-economy, directive-from-the-top? I disagree. A lot of the "fluff," as the author describes it, is excess capital finding its way to things people find pleasurable, whether it be dope, travel, beauty, or rock and roll. Purveyors of suc…

Yeah, I think we got here by evolution not revolution.It's a local minimum until the next upheaval. Lots of people are comfortable. As can be seen by comments on HN of "how can anyone possibly live on $100k?" . I think we may be at a local max of change as a certain level of comfortableness has allowed a false sense of revolution/being deprived as well as POC taking on more political power in the country. This has reached a critical mass in the form of the current republican party headed by Trump, I think unfortunately the violence from them will get much worse before it gets better.

Re: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

#96

Post by Bayart »

captainmuon wrote: post #13
ilamont wrote: post #5

Western economies, particularly that of the United States, have been built in a very calculated manner on gratification, addiction, and unnecessary spending. Calculated, like in planned-economy, directive-from-the-top? I disagree. A lot of the "fluff," as the author describes it, is excess capital finding its way to things people find pleasurable, whether it be dope, travel, beauty, or rock and roll. Purveyors of suc…

Counterpoint: What do you think "fashion" is? I used to think there were some very cool, fashion-adept people, who have the ability to predict what will considered modern next year. The reality is, the clothing industry decides what to produce at least 6-12 months in advance. It's not like they produce everything and public opinion decides in the end what is "cool". Granted, the industry tries to predict what will be…

>The reality is, the clothing industry decides what to produce at least 6-12 months in advance.

That's fast fashion. It's neither elegant not particularly valued by people who are into fashion.

Re: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

#97

Post by stjohnswarts »

WalterBright wrote: post #57
captainmuon wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterpoint: What do you think "fashion" is? I used to think there were some very cool, fashion-adept people, who have the ability to predict what will considered modern next year. The reality is, the clothing industry decides what to produce at least 6-12 months in advance. It's not like they produce everything and public opinion decides in the end what is "cool". Granted, the industry tries to predict what will be…

I've been wearing the exact same jeans cut for 30 years now. When they get holes, I just push a button on Amazon for more. My dress shirts are 20-30 years old. They're not out of style. Of course, I've never been cool, so there's that.

I'm kind of in the same boat. I never cared about fashion much. It always seemed hollow and vapid to me. Even as a kid/teen-ager/20s when it's supposed to matter the most.

Re: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

#98

Post by CPLX »

captainmuon wrote: post #13
ilamont wrote: post #5

Western economies, particularly that of the United States, have been built in a very calculated manner on gratification, addiction, and unnecessary spending. Calculated, like in planned-economy, directive-from-the-top? I disagree. A lot of the "fluff," as the author describes it, is excess capital finding its way to things people find pleasurable, whether it be dope, travel, beauty, or rock and roll. Purveyors of suc…

Counterpoint: What do you think "fashion" is? I used to think there were some very cool, fashion-adept people, who have the ability to predict what will considered modern next year. The reality is, the clothing industry decides what to produce at least 6-12 months in advance. It's not like they produce everything and public opinion decides in the end what is "cool". Granted, the industry tries to predict what will be…

This isn’t an accurate take.

Fashion trends are created in the same way art, architecture, and music trends are. By people who are talented and come to be influential.

The fashion “industry” is the very last stop in the process. The trends are determined by the “cool kids” for the most part.

If you don’t have exposure to the communities that actually drive trends it might feel the way you describe but if you live in a place like New York or pay attention to certain media the dynamic is obvious. If you’re basing your read on what you see in the local shop you’re fully a year or more behind the curve.

Which is fine. You don’t have to care about it at all really. But the your description of the dynamic isn’t correct.

Re: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

#99

Post by CPLX »

TheOtherHobbes wrote: post #80
ilamont wrote: post #5

Western economies, particularly that of the United States, have been built in a very calculated manner on gratification, addiction, and unnecessary spending. Calculated, like in planned-economy, directive-from-the-top? I disagree. A lot of the "fluff," as the author describes it, is excess capital finding its way to things people find pleasurable, whether it be dope, travel, beauty, or rock and roll. Purveyors of suc…

You may be being unrealistic about the role of spontaneous personal choice in this. To a surprising extent, people find things pleasurable because they're told to find them pleasurable. No one sane would inhale burning carcinogenic leaves to damage their own health, but people do - because they're encouraged to. People buy new phones because they're somehow "cool". No one is really sure why, but it's something that h…

> No one sane would inhale burning carcinogenic leaves to damage their own health, but people do - because they're encouraged to.

This is a ridiculous take. You think indigenous communities in pre-Colombian America were using tobacco because of media influence?

It’s a pleasurable and highly addictive drug.

Re: Your Lifestyle Has Already Been Designed (2010)

#100

Post by [deleted] »

SavantIdiot wrote: post #77

The part in the article about finding time to work out hit hard. He's right: there is so little time to work out because it takes 1hr to work out and 1hr to travel/clean up: 2hrs is a big deal when you only have ~4 hours free hours per day to take care of life. That made me pretty depressed, not just for me but for every overweight person who is being shamed about not exercising. You have to exercise a lot to alter y…

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