The Business of Making You Want What You Don’t Need

Consuming “most” things is making you dumb. There, we said it.

Think about it: the internet, TV, podcasts, and bookshelves at airports are overflowing with content designed to keep you busy, not thoughtful. And the dangerous part? Most of it looks like it’s beneficial for you.

Take newspapers, for example. When they first became cheap and widespread, publishers faced a dilemma. They could print more stories than ever, but most of them were trivial gossip, sensational headlines, or irrelevant events from faraway places. Readers didn’t really need this information.

So how do you keep people buying the paper every day? Enter the crossword puzzle. 

An invention in 1913, to give people a reason to “use” the paper. A small rationalisation for media consumption. 

Fast forward a century, and crosswords have new avatars: reels, memes, trending listicles. They primarily exist to justify your scrolling habit.

The Dilemma of Being Numb, Dumb & Unaware

The more you consume, the less you think. Mass content leaves you bloated with opinions, headlines, and borrowed thoughts. And when your mind is stuffed with second-hand ideas, you lose the space to form your own. Mass consumption breeds mass opinions. You know a little about everything but understand nothing fully. And when it comes to making sense of the world, or making a decision in your own life, that surface-level knowledge collapses.

But here’s the twist: You didn’t stumble into mass consumption; you were led into it. 😏

The Economy of Keeping You Consuming

Publishers, platforms, and creators literally depend on how much you consume their content. The model is simple: the more you read, scroll, or watch, the longer you stay, the more they can sell. And once that loop is in place, quality no longer matters. What matters is stickiness. A crossword puzzle in 1913, a “You might also like” feed in 2025, different tools, same goal. We’ve all wondered why the ad for something you just whispered about pops up instantly. It's all about what they can get you to buy and by what means.

And if you think this is harmless, go watch the documentary “Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy”. It’s about how giants like Amazon, Apple, Adidas, and Unilever engineer ways to keep us stuck in the loop behind labels like convenience, exclusivity and affordability. 

So, Your Responsibility: 

As A Consumer

Look past the entertaining and shallow, and seek out the stuff that’s harder, slower, sometimes even boring, but deeply valuable. Because if you don’t choose what feeds your mind, the mass producers will do it for you.

As An Investor

See through it. Companies will always design ways to keep people consuming. Some of them will be brilliant businesses worth owning. But if you can’t separate real value creation from manufactured demand, you risk investing in the trap and being stuck in it too.