Selling hope to desperate people

[doodle]

What percentage of our economy involves selling false hope to desperate or gullible people? Maybe the government does negatively impact economic productivity, but what good is it doing society that we are very good at productively producing snake oil? Im talking gimmicky exercise equipment, ridiculous diet pills all the way down the line to the myriad trinkets and baubles that we are duped into believing will bring improvement and happiness to our lives. It seems to me that a large amount (not all) of the economic growth, production, and innovation that we pride ourselves and devote our lives to creates no real lasting benefit to society. We expend an enormous amount of effort as a society it seems in order to fill landfills with junk.

[Tyler]

Take the anthromorphic connection of your question out of the picture for a moment, and think of it in terms of natural selection.

"It seems to me that a large amount (not all) of the mutations and adaptations that we put so much stock into create no real lasting benefit to the species. We expend an enormous amount of effort as biological entities in order to fill graveyards with junk mutations."

Progress in both cases requires 99% failure rates for the 1% that really matters to be identified.  Sometimes you can spot the bad idea very early.  But sometimes the great one isn't immediately obvious.  Not every individual piece has to be helpful for good things to come of the system. The bigger question is what system you personally join and why.

I share your angst on now much effort is wasted on unimportant things.  That's one internal conflict that is driving me towards retiring from a product design career.  But I see the problem as less in the motivation of the greedy snake oil salesman and more a character flaw in the recipient who has their priorities in the wrong place.  If people stopped working 1 day a week just to afford gym memberships, thighmasters, and diet pills, and instead spent that one day exercising outdoors, they'd be healthier, equally wealthy, and more independent.  And the "snake oil" would be a moot point. 

So my issue with my product design career isn't so much that many of the products I've made are dumb or end up in landfills (a few have made very positive impacts on people).  It's that so much of my time ends up in the life-landfill for this particular career path, when I've learned enough skills and saved enough money that stepping off the salary treadmill and waving goodbye to expensive convenience items seems like the far more rational choice.

I choose not to be desperate and gullible.  If everyone thought that way, I'm sure the economy would look a lot different.

[Pointedstick]

I choose not to be desperate and gullible.  If everyone thought that way, I'm sure the economy would look a lot different.

Bingo. The supply of this crap is a function of the demand for it. It's actually a reflection on us--or at least, those of us who have the something-for-nothing attitude that embodies the attraction to so many of these "diet in a pill" or type of products. If we want to have fewer useless products, we have to have people who understand the reality that you can't get results without work.