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Some (a lot?) of economic activity seems to be self-serving, not making our lives better (and sometimes making them worse). The lockdowns demonstrated that very

Some (a lot?) of economic activity seems to be self-serving, not making our lives better (and sometimes making them worse). The lockdowns demonstrated that very well. For example: social media (doesn't add anything beneficial, makes us less social); 'influencers'; a good chunk of the hospitality industry; anything to do with crypto. Very often, free alternatives / those not involving 3rd parties, simpler living, are better for us overall. But if more expensive options are available, we are pressured to take them so that we are not left behind / feel like we fit in / have a social life. Also, at some point certain things are just 'good enough', and marginal improvements require a ton of effort but don't make life better. For example, mobile phones - an 8 year old phone would work just fine, if not for forced obsoletion. Yet tons of effort go into very marginal improvements, because if you don't do it, your competitors will.

mmarq 5y ago
> Also, at some point certain things are just 'good enough', and marginal improvements require a ton of effort but don't make life better. For example, mobile phones - an 8 year old phone would work just fine, if not for forced obsoletion. Yet tons of effort go into very marginal improvements, because if you don't do it, your competitors will. If this were true, your innovating competitors will lose money. There’s a discussion to be had on bad innovations (such as almost everything related to the so-called “attention economy), but they are a drop in the ocean.
- agent008t 5y ago
  There are a lot of reasons to get the newest phone with the best features, and many of those reasons are not wholesome ones. For example, my iPhone 6 is getting obsolete just because it would not get latest iOS updates. Many apps are no longer supporting the old OS version. Yet these apps are not video games requiring the latest hardware - they are simply glorified web pages. There is no objective reason for why the phone could not run them.
disgruntledphd2 5y ago
> social media (doesn't add anything beneficial, makes us less social) People in a lot of places literally couldn't socialise physically for much of the last 18 months, surely social media must have helped? Like one can argue that it's a cure worse than the diseases, but it's difficult to say that it's entirely useless.
- agent008t 5y ago
  It is worse than useless. You do not need social media to call someone - on phone or on video, to send an email, organize an online game, chat on whatever messenger (Why do we need a new one every few months?) or even send a snail mail letter. Even an old-style message board is better for social interactions than social media.

mmarq 5y ago

> Also, at some point certain things are just 'good enough', and marginal improvements require a ton of effort but don't make life better. For example, mobile phones - an 8 year old phone would work just fine, if not for forced obsoletion. Yet tons of effort go into very marginal improvements, because if you don't do it, your competitors will. If this were true, your innovating competitors will lose money. There’s a discussion to be had on bad innovations (such as almost everything related to the so-called “attention economy), but they are a drop in the ocean.

agent008t 5y ago
There are a lot of reasons to get the newest phone with the best features, and many of those reasons are not wholesome ones. For example, my iPhone 6 is getting obsolete just because it would not get latest iOS updates. Many apps are no longer supporting the old OS version. Yet these apps are not video games requiring the latest hardware - they are simply glorified web pages. There is no objective reason for why the phone could not run them.

disgruntledphd2 5y ago

> social media (doesn't add anything beneficial, makes us less social) People in a lot of places literally couldn't socialise physically for much of the last 18 months, surely social media must have helped? Like one can argue that it's a cure worse than the diseases, but it's difficult to say that it's entirely useless.

agent008t 5y ago
It is worse than useless. You do not need social media to call someone - on phone or on video, to send an email, organize an online game, chat on whatever messenger (Why do we need a new one every few months?) or even send a snail mail letter. Even an old-style message board is better for social interactions than social media.