"History is a wonderful thing, if only it was true"
-Tolstoy

Tuesday, May 26, 2009

Odd Behaviors ... explained ?

Why do some folks splurge on "image" products

Findings - Message in What We Buy, but Nobody’s Listening - NYTimes.com:

"“Evolution is good at getting us to avoid death, desperation and celibacy, but it’s not that good at getting us to feel happy,” he says, calling our desire to impress strangers a quirky evolutionary byproduct of a smaller social world.

“We evolved as social primates who hardly ever encountered strangers in prehistory,” Dr. Miller says. “So we instinctively treat all strangers as if they’re potential mates or friends or enemies. But your happiness and survival today don’t depend on your relationships with strangers. It doesn’t matter whether you get a nanosecond of deference from a shopkeeper or a stranger in an airport.”"

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