When I read that I knew the article was by someone who was young, because all those trends described in the article started before social media. But they did start when “media” started measuring their success based on user time consumption (post advertising).
> We’d rather have a real picture in a lavish private jet over a real experience that’s normal.
I think this is where the author sort of misses the mark with the article. Because that is exactly an example of how many people actually don’t want to be consumers, but rather producers.
Now, you can think that’s a bas thing. I certainly think it’s sad to see children who would rather be YouTubers than scientists, but at least those children still want to make something with their lives. I’m not sure whether social media has made it easier to become rich and famous, but at least you don’t have to deal with editors to even get your content put on MTV.
> Kittens learn that from observing their mother. As far as I know, cats can’t communicate the way we do, so they learn by copying each other’s behavior.
I’m not going to pretend to know how cats work, but we had a rescue kitten that never saw it’s mother (or any other cat) so anything and it still used the litter box.
> Same strategy, same actions, different times, different outcomes. Becoming rich and famous is mostly a matter of luck.
I play Blood Bowl, it’s basically chess mixed with dices. It’s very unbalanced and leans much more heavily into the dice side than the chess side. After around 2000 matches I’ve learned that it’s indeed great to be lucky, but to win consistently you need to be lucky at the right times.
I personally prefer that sort of thinking because it indicates that you need to set up your circumstances to capitalise on the luck that comes your way.