Your kingdom doesn’t operate in a vacuum… it’s one of billions. Around seven and a half of them to be more precise.
Your best survival strategy in such a setup is to integrate yourself with other kingdoms. Thousands of years ago it was known as a tribe… today society.
The tribe has super systems. Bigger more dependable systems for circulating it’s resources, gathering intel, maintaining vigilance, and fighting off invaders.
More safety, more food, more sex. The tribe enhances your chance of survival.
Fitting in is a survival strategy… Ug’s territory.
So Ug runs everything through the social acceptance filter. Without us even being aware of it.
I’ll illustrate that with your average run of the mill dating profile.
This is Jane’s dating profile.
She… like most, is looking for “the one”… you know, her “needle in the haystack”. Upwards of eighty-five percent of dating profiles are setup to find “the one”.
And since she went through the effort of setting up an account and filling out her profile in detail, I think it’s safe to say that she’s sincere in her desire to find her “one”. And… like everyone else in a fast paced society, we can be reasonably sure that Jane wants to find Mr Wonderful sooner rather than later.
The best strategy for finding “the one” in the shortest amount of time is to broadcast a narrow message. Coax your needle out of the haystack… so to speak, instead of forcing yourself to manually sort through the whole thing.
Think how SETI would looking for one specific type of extra terrestrial instead of any and every.
But when we scroll down through Janes profile we discover that she has chosen to reveal a bunch of very generic and inoffensive things out about her. I mean… who doesn’t like puppies? Even most serial killers draw the line at puppies… I hope.
And to top it off she’s even attached a somewhat provocative… and often outdated profile pic.
Putting your best face to a bunch of generic and non-offensive statements is the best strategy for gaining mass acceptance.
It’s also the absolute worst way to coax your needle out of the haystack.
The best strategy for finding “the one” is to lead with everything creepy and potentially offensive about yourself and attach your worst… or at least most normal pic to it.
Like this:
Yes, Jane will get far fewer responses. Fewer first dates. But they will most likely be the folks she is looking for. So… more second dates. It will save her a ton of time.
Ug will not let it happen.
Not without a fight anyway.
The problem with the acceptance strategy is that Janes page is more of an asshole dog whistle than filter.
Which means her numerous first dates never lead to second ones.
It feels good to be asked out. Terrible to be ghosted afterwards.
Jane concludes that all men are jerks… and abandons her search.
Ahhh… but now that she’s not wasting time dating buttheads she has more time for her creepy porcelain doll collecting hobby. And it’s at a porcelain doll convention that she meets her “one”.
C’mon… you knew Jane had to have a happy ending.
Following the Herd
The need to fit in causes more than personal angst.
These days we call the purchase of material goods consumption. But a hundred years ago we called tuberculosis consumption. It was a wide and indiscriminate killer.
Coincidence? I’ll let you decide.
The United States economy is heavily dependent on consumption. And that presents a problem… no one really needs stuff anymore.
But… the economy.
It’s gotten to the point where consumption is kind of like some twisted patriotic duty.
And then there’s the environment and habitat loss. Wouldn’t curtailing consumption be an obvious response to climate change? It certainly would make your life better.
Yeah? Well, that’s not what’s happening. Year over year consumption is way up… despite the majority’s self-professed climate concerns.
It doesn’t matter that it’s the new Prius people are buying. You can’t consume your way out of overconsumption.
Even if your country is counting on it.
Do we really have to choose between the environment and our economy?
And if so… is it even a choice?
Ug doesn’t think so. He doesn’t give a shit about the environment. He wants to fit in.
The music for our dance with materialism started about a hundred years ago, when these two hooked up.
The guy on the left is Edward Bernays.
The nephew of the great Sigmund Freud.
You probably recognize the guy on the right…
Bernays showed American Business how to use his Uncles discoveries to groove a message to Ug… linking consumer goods to our unconscious fears… and hypnotizing us into a state of never ending want.
It worked… incredibly well.
In only a few decades, a nation founded by the Puritans – the ultimate minimalists – was converted into the worlds most insatiable consumers.
And this is where we run into the question of free will. Do we have the control over our personal kingdoms that we think we do?
Back: Chapter 2 – The Kingdom of You
Resources:
Nigel Nicholson