Nothing To Talk About But Buying Stuff
One of the things reading The Paradox of Choice made me aware of is how much of our conversation is about buying stuff. We talk about what we are thinking of buying, be it house, car, electronics, friends share their opinions of their own house, car, product or the other ones they tried when shopping themselves. Or, we talk about things we already purchased, whether we are happy with it or not, the deal we got, the money we saved. I don’t know how much of our actual conversations as a society consist of this kind of talk but I would estimate it to be 30-50%, is that too high?
Fortunately, not all conversations have to be about stuff, but I think we often find we don’t have anything else to talk about. I think there used to be the saying that Religion and Politics were Taboo subjects, because they where controversial, and so you should avoid talking about them. I wonder if the realm of taboo subjects has greatly expanded, that it pretty much includes everything except for buying stuff. Well, I guess it includes the weather, TV shows and sports, but other then that most surface level relationships and conversations never seem to get deeper then that.
Q: What’s your estimate of how much of your conversations in total is talking about Stuff and purchasing stuff.
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Thats a really good question..
I know with some friends a typical conversation will start out about their new cell phones, then we’ll transition to talking about what new games we got for our Wii or want to get for our Wii or how awesome our Wii’s are.. Its fun talking, but sometimes its just so shallow. I guess its easier than to talk about stuff than to ask and challenge each other with how we’re doing in our walk.
Lately when I find myself in these conversations, its a good opportunity to talk about how Susan and I have been trying to be anti-consumers.
I’m not sure yet, but I am reading Affluenza and I think I’ll have a better idea once I am finished with that book.
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