Summary: Merry Christmas, Crossroadies! Or Happy Holidays if that works for you. On this jolly week, our trio of hosts celebrates by discussing a very merry topic: consumerism. We discuss about how consumerism affects our lives, what can we do to tackle it and try to take down a few common objections people have. Check out the show notes after the break.IntroductionWhat's new?Yannis introduces an article on the Art of Manliness titled 9 Reasons Analogue Games are AwesomeTopic: The Terrible "C" WordCrossroads is (sometimes) a show about life choices and strategic decision-making.Living organisms can be defined by consumption, excretion, and replication.Consumption is a gigantic part of our lives, yet so ubiquitous we often give it very little thought, or compartmentalize it, instead of seeing it all as “consumption”.What do you consume to satisfy your needs and wants? What do you give for it?Physical (food, shelter, travel) and abstract (entertainment, education) consumption.“You are what you eat.”A broader form is, “You are what you consume”. The broadest: “You are the sum of your actions.”What and whether you consume affects a great deal of your life and character.The “nutritional value” of your consumption plays a huge role in how you feel.High vs. low nutrition…Food?Information?Consumption and ProductionWe consume to meet our needs, but sometimes forget that we can also produce.In some areas (clothing), production is often not practical. In other areas (entertainment, health, food) it’s extremely practical and rewarding, but requires different resources (time, effort, skill) than consumption (money).Consumption isn’t inherently harmful, but “Consumerism”--the idea that consumption is the only way to fulfill your needs--is.Smart ConsumptionThe two questions: Whether and What?Ask whether you need to consume something for fulfilment.Can you reach your goal with production instead?If not, do you need to consume that particular thing for your goal?One level up: is your goal even necessary?If you’ve decided you need to, What is the best thing to consume for your goal?Don’t over or under-engineer. Solve your problem with exactly as many resources as it requires.Why should you care?It’s your life, and you consume time at a constant basis.Mindless, ubiquitous consumption is a poor long-term strategy. It requires you to wastefully pump in more and more resources to accomplish goals that you might not even need.Intelligent consumption lessens your waste, and Production is a long-term strategy that actually increases your knowledge and output.Cars run on money and make you fat, bicycles run on fat and make you money.There is an abundance of resources out there that people commonly do not acknowledgeWe have been geared to acknowledge the economic relationship between time and moneyThere are others, such as willpower, patience, enthusiasm, and tenacityGiving in too much to your wants can be draining to your patience and enthusiasmSales can have a negative effect on thisI bought xyz on sale because I wanted it anyway but I'm still not done with abc so now I feel badWillpower can also dwindle in the long-run because it has not been exercisedCommon ObjectionsI need to consume the way I do in order to live the way I do.Do you need to live the way you do?Production is difficult and time-consuming.So is anything worthwhile, at first. As your skill increases, the time and difficulty decrease.There are way too many offers and deals out thereConsuming just because of offers does not yield better valueMy circles expect that I consume the way I do or else I will get no respectDo you like living under the acknowledgement of others?If I don't get into now I will be behindMostly a problem with tech upgrades and early adoptionHow are you so sure that the latest tech will stick?e.g. Blu-ray vs. HD-DVD, VR stuffVideo game console purchases have this problem too because there are no guarantees that the game library of one will be as rich as the otherWhere to find
