[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3aIQuMWJCA?rel=0&controls=0&showinfo=0]
We are the first generation of humans, since time began who are actually disbanding our tribes. Mankind is tribal, it is our ability to unite and cooperate that has enabled us to survive and prosper through hunter gatherer to the agrarian society.
Humans have always sought to be part of a tribe, this has not only been for the safety within the social group, but also for identity, emotional and psychological interaction.
Fast forward to the 21st century and we are all being swept away by a machine designed to get us to neglect what is important, we are being continually programmed by the media, advertising and even the very people who we are in awe of, to abandon our inherent social needs for what is in reality little more than junk value, just like fast food, that does not really serve to contribute to a healthy appetite, we are increasingly immersed in machinery designed to divert our attention from that which matters the most.
Advertising, creates a problem, then offers a solution, this is called ‘invented wants’ or consumer objects that we feel we need to have, but in reality, the very psychology behind this trend is one that is a downward spiral of emotional state of mind.
Take the latest mobile phone, from the minute we have bought it, we are sitting on a time bomb of consumer redundancy as a newer model is released and we are made to feel that what we have is now out-dated.
The message from the advertising industry is that the answer to all our problems is shopping, but in reality, that is a lie, the actual result is our increasing unhappiness.
As our perceived idea of the meaning of life becomes more warped, we have become increasingly focused on wealth, although there is a big difference between poverty and financial security, once we have that. additional money does not make us any happier, but the process of seeking it does make us depressed.
We are rapidly forgetting what is important in life, we are becoming detached from reality and human interaction as we hide behind screens, we may feel more connected than ever, but ironically, we are actually LESS connected than ever, because we have not evolved to interact with machines, we evolved to interact with other humans.
Loneliness and isolation is increasing, as we replace ‘real friends’ with ‘virtual friends’ and for many, the number of people they feel they can call on in a catastrophe is dropping, for many it is ZERO and that is not how we evolved to live.