4 ms·

As an observer from the other side of the pond, I do feel that there's lots of companies built on unsubstantiated fear in the US. Times change and so do the thr

As an observer from the other side of the pond, I do feel that there's lots of companies built on unsubstantiated fear in the US. Times change and so do the threats, but in a nutshell: •Nuclear bunkers to keep your family safe. •Big guns because they will come for you. •All sorts of tracking devices for kids. •Surveillance systems for homes So the latest seems to be a modern day witch-hunting for masses.

TeMPOraL 5y ago
It's not just US. It's the whole western world, everywhere where modern market economy took hold. Look beyond the obvious cases, and you'll see it. For instance: - I've already mentioned parents upthread. You can sell them any kind of crap if you even hint at some obscure danger to health or life of a newborn. Half of the market of products for parents/small children is based on that. The other half runs on a combination of FOMO, fear of being a bad parent (or being seen as one), and fear of your kid falling behind someone else's kid. - Wedding market runs on insecurity. If you don't buy this or rent that, your wedding will not be perfect. It's once-in-a-lifetime thing, you can't settle for anything less than ideal. Don't mind the loan you'll have to take, paying back which will define the first few years of your marriage. - Fear of cancer and cardiovascular diseases is what makes people shut down critical thinking and buy all kinds of bullshit. Organic food and fitness businesses are based mostly on that. I could go on.
- cosmodisk 5y ago
  You are right. We welcomed our daughter a few years ago and the amount of stuff that has been invented over the last decade is breathtaking. Monitors, special pillows, all sorts of foods, supplements, and what not. You look at it all and think wtf... FOMO is huge too, especially with social media nowadays. I can't count the number of times people look at me with puzzled expressions thinking how on earth I don't use x,y,or z service/product. Want to lose weight? Of course you can't just go for a walk. You need a subscription to 5 celebrity weight loss programs, an indoor bike for a couple grand, super 24/7 gym membership, running club, neighborhood calorie watch, lifting buddy,etc.
  - TeMPOraL 5y ago
    > We welcomed our daughter a few years ago Belated congratulations! > You look at it all and think wtf... Yeah, you do now. I remember us thinking differently around the time our daughter was born. Even though we both should've known better, we got the fear and anxiety to control us for a while. It was only at the point we found ourselves agonizing over choosing a breath monitor that we suddenly realized we're being played - we don't need it, our child isn't in the risk group, and we should stop letting our random worrying drive our purchasing decisions.
- ClumsyPilot 5y ago
  "Fear of cancer and cardiovascular diseases" That one is well justifued, most of us die from something like that
  - TeMPOraL 5y ago
    The best lies are rooted in truth. Most of us will die from one of those, but it doesn't mean buying into fitness/healthy food mania has any meaningful chance of delaying it, or that eating normal food carries meaningfully increased risk. The lie is often just conveniently forgetting to account for base rate when evaluating research papers about correlation between food/behavior and aforementioned disease classes.
- jrussino 5y ago
  I think the kernel of the problem is this: you make money by selling a solution to a problem that someone has. You can do this by looking at the existing set of problems and coming up with a solution (product, service). This is good. BUT you can also do this by creating NEW problems and then selling a solution to those. It seems to me to be a fundamental problem in our economy and in our politics.
_carbyau_ 5y ago
You missed: bigger SUV/truck.
annoyingnoob 5y ago
> Surveillance systems for homes Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of lower level crime like package theft, car break-ins, etc. The cops are pretty much too busy to help and don't care unless there are multiple felonies and real harm. Having a deterrent like a camera system can be helpful - making yourself a less convenient target really helps.

TeMPOraL 5y ago

It's not just US. It's the whole western world, everywhere where modern market economy took hold. Look beyond the obvious cases, and you'll see it. For instance: - I've already mentioned parents upthread. You can sell them any kind of crap if you even hint at some obscure danger to health or life of a newborn. Half of the market of products for parents/small children is based on that. The other half runs on a combination of FOMO, fear of being a bad parent (or being seen as one), and fear of your kid falling behind someone else's kid. - Wedding market runs on insecurity. If you don't buy this or rent that, your wedding will not be perfect. It's once-in-a-lifetime thing, you can't settle for anything less than ideal. Don't mind the loan you'll have to take, paying back which will define the first few years of your marriage. - Fear of cancer and cardiovascular diseases is what makes people shut down critical thinking and buy all kinds of bullshit. Organic food and fitness businesses are based mostly on that. I could go on.

cosmodisk 5y ago
You are right. We welcomed our daughter a few years ago and the amount of stuff that has been invented over the last decade is breathtaking. Monitors, special pillows, all sorts of foods, supplements, and what not. You look at it all and think wtf... FOMO is huge too, especially with social media nowadays. I can't count the number of times people look at me with puzzled expressions thinking how on earth I don't use x,y,or z service/product. Want to lose weight? Of course you can't just go for a walk. You need a subscription to 5 celebrity weight loss programs, an indoor bike for a couple grand, super 24/7 gym membership, running club, neighborhood calorie watch, lifting buddy,etc.
- TeMPOraL 5y ago
  > We welcomed our daughter a few years ago Belated congratulations! > You look at it all and think wtf... Yeah, you do now. I remember us thinking differently around the time our daughter was born. Even though we both should've known better, we got the fear and anxiety to control us for a while. It was only at the point we found ourselves agonizing over choosing a breath monitor that we suddenly realized we're being played - we don't need it, our child isn't in the risk group, and we should stop letting our random worrying drive our purchasing decisions.
ClumsyPilot 5y ago
"Fear of cancer and cardiovascular diseases" That one is well justifued, most of us die from something like that
- TeMPOraL 5y ago
  The best lies are rooted in truth. Most of us will die from one of those, but it doesn't mean buying into fitness/healthy food mania has any meaningful chance of delaying it, or that eating normal food carries meaningfully increased risk. The lie is often just conveniently forgetting to account for base rate when evaluating research papers about correlation between food/behavior and aforementioned disease classes.
jrussino 5y ago
I think the kernel of the problem is this: you make money by selling a solution to a problem that someone has. You can do this by looking at the existing set of problems and coming up with a solution (product, service). This is good. BUT you can also do this by creating NEW problems and then selling a solution to those. It seems to me to be a fundamental problem in our economy and in our politics.

_carbyau_ 5y ago

You missed: bigger SUV/truck.

annoyingnoob 5y ago

> Surveillance systems for homes Unfortunately, there is quite a bit of lower level crime like package theft, car break-ins, etc. The cops are pretty much too busy to help and don't care unless there are multiple felonies and real harm. Having a deterrent like a camera system can be helpful - making yourself a less convenient target really helps.