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Consumption

The Invidious Engine – Part 2: The Positional Treadmill and the Biology of Rank

3 February 2024·652 words·4 mins

Human Systems and Behavior Status Biology Positional Goods Consumption Consumer Psychology Decision-Making and Bias Social Dynamics Policy and Critique

Examining the biological basis of status competition and how it creates a treadmill of perpetual dissatisfaction in consumer behavior.

The Invidious Engine: How Corporate Emulation Fosters Perpetual Demand

2 February 2024·269 words·2 mins

Human Systems and Behavior Consumer Psychology Envy Status Consumption Corporate Strategy Consumer Psychology Decision-Making and Bias Social Dynamics Policy and Critique

A series exploring how corporate exploitation of envy drives perpetual consumer demand through status competition and psychological manipulation.

The Invidious Engine – Part 1: Engineering the Perception of Lack

2 February 2024·703 words·4 mins

Human Systems and Behavior Envy Consumption Status Marketing Consumer Psychology Decision-Making and Bias Social Dynamics Policy and Critique

Exploring how companies exploit envy to create perpetual consumer demand through social comparison and status signaling.

The Cost of Convenience: Part 5—Environmental Debt: Cheap Now, Expensive Forever

9 May 2021·2265 words·11 mins

Systems and Innovation Environment Sustainability Debt Consumption Systems Thinking Design and Innovation Trade and Supply Chains Sustainability

Exploring the deferred environmental costs of convenient consumption and linear economies.

The Secret Life of Ordinary Objects - Part 1: Salt, Syntax, and Sips: A Global History of What We Eat

21 April 2019·1049 words·5 mins

History and Critical Analysis Food-History Political Economy Industrialization Beverages Consumption Innovation History Social Dynamics Technological History

From Roman flatbread to TV dinners: the epicurean paradox of why the simplest foods hide the most complicated politics.