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We live in a ‘Buy Now’ culture. One that rewards impulsiveness and instant gratification. The buy now pay later, marketing phenomenon is so successful, that multi-million-pound campaigns are designed to specifically target those who are vulnerable to temptation. Spend your hard-earned money now, and repent at leisure.
Why is living in the moment so difficult to achieve?
We live in the Age of Distraction, where multi-tasking is an expectation, a skill to acquire. Employers seek individuals who can complete tasks adequately but in record time and frequency. Good enough is preferable to perfect. We are sold the minimum viable product, with a promise of unlimited upgrades in the future. How have we learned to accept poor quality over expediency?
Training.
We are bombarded all our waking hours with a sensory overload of input. Check the notifications list on your smartphone, and every application from maps to games wants to beep and ping at every opportunity possible. We become so plugged into this stream of useless information, that to unplug is simply not an option. Deprive us of the energy-draining plethora of cat videos and trite memes, and we feel its loss acutely. Perhaps we are missing out on a fantastic offer, another gadget that promises the earth and delivers nothing but eye strain. Maybe…