Our world is directed by a self-organizing system that requires consumption to drive profits. There is no intentionality, but there is purpose. Every constituent part organizes itself in service of this goal. The system is called capitalism, and it is very good at achieving its objectives.

Self-organizing systems are neither good nor bad; think of an ant colony. No one ant, including the queen, knows what it is doing; it is simply the system organizing to maximize the use of resources for the desired outcome: life.

Capitalism is no different. Profits are neither good nor bad; they are simply the objective of the system we have built. The tools that it uses to achieve its goals are all around us. They are why consumerism exploded once everyone had a television in their house, and now we have social media.

The light and sound of these devices are optimized to increase consumption; they trigger specific neurons to fire, creating a physical need to consume.

This is science, and marketing firms are well aware of it.

The easiest way to change one's behavior is to turn off the television and not use social media. If we don't want to do that, we can train our brains to spot the algorithms at work.

Because "marketing" is so prominent, we can not escape it entirely unless we change the goal that comes from our evolution imperative to hoard scarce resources, this is what the "system" exploits.

Imagine changing if the imperative of the system is to help all living things thrive.

What a world we would live in.

We built it, we can take it apart just as easily if society decides that it has had enough.

I hope everyone lives in peace and good health.