Girlie Marketing, Sugar Demon, Society, Wisdom
A buffet of ideas
Hi and Happy Tuesday!
Let’s dive right in.
Marketing for Girlies
How did 14 y.o's vernacular make it into the world of adult women? Calling each other girlie when you're 35 is ridiculous.
It’s most obvious in the wellness space. The marketing there seems reduced to teenage-talk, duck face with a peace sign, and cutesy product names. Essentially, what girls would find appealing.
Why is everyone okay with it? My take:
Society has been getting more infantilised and doesn’t mind. It’s cool to be a semi-grown-up with adult privileges but few responsibilities.
Leaving any tribe requires a level of psychological maturity and strength most people don’t have, so they remain stuck with the adult-child peer group, signalling to other girlies even though they’re grown-ass women.
Perhaps the wellness space target market is modelled after a Valley Girl?
Also, many “adult” things are less affordable compared to 30 years ago (Like owning property). Maybe our generation decided to give up and instead play adult into their 40s (or an accidental pregnancy).
Sugar demon
Sugar-free is the new fat-free. Sugar-free versions of products filled with artificial sweeteners are sold as a healthy choice. We demonised fat, then somebody in the industry changed their mind. Now it's sugar's turn.
At some point, we’ll find that sweeteners are just as bad as industrial sugar. The only reason sweeteners don’t get demonised is that Western society is obsessed with being thin. We pretend we’re after health but it’s thinness. So anything that keeps the calories out is ‘good’.
If I have a sugar-free soda or protein shake filled with sweeteners, I feel much worse than consuming white sugar.
Society
Society is built on the unspoken agreement that the majority of its members should be mediocre. “It’ll make others look bad” is a societal program installed in us early on (and by evolution).
Its cousin is "think about others, " meaning don't stand out. Most people with a platform or wealth receive hate because they broke the mediocre rule.
Peter Thiel said that in theory, entrepreneurship is encouraged, but the reality is quite the opposite. Thinking outside the box requires stepping outside of the societal paradigm but the social rules penalise people from standing out.
He proposed that most big founders are on a spectrum, making them immune to social rules, therefore allowing them to build outside-the-box businesses.
Quotes/Ideas I Like
There’s a folder in my notes where I store other people’s thoughts I find interesting. Here are some I added recently 👇
When your views on certain topics can be predicted from unrelated statements, there’s a good chance you’ve outsourced part of your thinking to tribal affiliations. - Kevin Kelly
You’re always making the best choice based on your current understanding. Don’t try to change the choice - change the understanding. - Naval Ravikant
Everyone driving slower than you is an idiot and everyone driving faster than you is a maniac. - George Carlin
Debates about opinions that one is identified with (politics, religion) tend to be useless. If the cost of changing one’s opinion is loss of identity, friends, benefits, don’t expect others to follow the truth. Don’t trust yourself where your beliefs elicit moral emotions. - Joscha Bach
Free Will does not exist at the level of physics but within the self-model of a decision-making agent. It is the representation that the agent is acting under uncertainty and makes a decision for the first time, which means it cannot yet be predicted by the agent. - Joscha Bach
While people need good advice, what they want is advice that sounds good. - Jason Zweig
What are your thoughts on free will?
Why do you think the girlie phenomenon exists?
What are some ideas from others you find interesting?
Have a great week,
Rima