Love for likes.

This post should really be titled “Fake love for likes” but that is too wordy and not so catchy.

Society influences us to participate in rituals and activities that are not the most practical at times. For example, why would you pay $4 for a beer in a bar when you could buy a 6-pack for the price of around $11? That is just one silly example. A more serious example are the various holidays and religious practices.

Religion and ancient culture is not so much the discussion here. The discussion here is social media. As many of us live alone and are interacting with such a large variety of cultures and beliefs that we eventually subscribe to the larger secular group think and culture.

Isolated we have to interact via social media. We seek approval and get our social order from social media. Unfortunately, we end up doing things like the fire challenge and end up in the hospital. While the fire challenge is a burn that may cause pain for a few weeks, getting into or staying in a bad relationship for popular approval may cause a lifetime of suffering. The short term praise gained by taking pictures together, and showing how happy you are in pictures is a shot of dopamine but wasting your life, living for the approval of others can make you say dope(Homer Simpson voice) every morning you wake up.

Its worth it to take a minute to think whether you are doing things to gain social approval or genuine long term and sustainable peace.