On our door we have a sign, 'No Junk Mail'. It seems like such a simple sign but it has profound effects on life as we know it. I have written a little about advertising in various ways recently and today was talking with 
The reason is that besides Steemit, I hardly use sites that contain advertising and since I am not a large user of apps, I don't get a lot of adverts pushed to me through the phone either. My feed at Steemit is not algorithmic, it is chosen and my 'feed' in the home is selected also.
My wife and I don't watch television and my daughter is yet to sit down in front of a screen. In our house, there are no catalogues and pretty much all that covers flat surfaces are kids books and paper and pencils.
For me, it has had a large effect on how much 'demand' I have for new products. I am one of those people that 'likes to shop' yet, over the last 2 years that we have unconsciously banished advertising from the home, the drive to buy new things has been severely reduced.
Advertisers are masters at targeting human hard wiring and playing on our emotional and psychological weaknesses to desire and demand, be the first on the block with or scared to miss out on, whatever they happen to be selling. Every advert is carefully crafted to make us want it. You might think you are immune but, how would you know?
Spring cleaning time is coming up and when you rummage through your storage or garage this year, have a look at just how much crap you have that you barely used and never needed. Have a good look at how much you have spent on it yet, were hesitant to buy cryptocurrencies because you 'might lose' your money. Look at that junk.. You DID lose your money.
But, this isn't just about the financial and commercial consumption side of things. What we surround ourselves with has a large effect on our thinking and our skillsets. Instead of leaving trash content around your living room, switch it out with some reading that challenges you, makes you think, helps you grow. It will be one of the best investments you will ever make. An investment in yourself.
And this is the crux of the matter right here. We have been programmed to purchase all manner of things that make our life more pleasurable, easier and enjoyable but, how many of those things are skills? The purchasing behaviors we have not only take away a lot of the money we have to invest, they take away the time we have to invest in growing our range.
In this world there is nothing more enjoyable than doing all the hard work to develop a skill and then using it to accomplish something value adding. But, we have been lied to as we have been told that happiness can be purchased through new clothes, cars, houses, planes, hotels and diamond rings.
Consumption in this world is at an all time high, as is depression. How strong do you think the correlation is when you factor in all the desires for things that are just out of economic reach? Your neighbor has one of those though. Jealous?
Our minds have become buried in a trash heap of irrelevance and unnecessary yet we think just one more item, one more latest version and we will be happy. Take a look around your house, scroll through your feeds, pay attention on your commute to work and note, how much is designed to get you to buy something and how much is created to help you actually improve?
But, it doesn't affect us...
Taraz
[ a Steemit original ]