It’s called The Diderot Effect, and it explains modern consumerism, why you buy things you don’t need. It all started when we were told as kids that we just had to have the awesome decoder ring found in that special cereal box. Today, unless we’ve seen the latest superhero movie or have the latest iPhone, we are somehow less of a person. Our goods define our identity. This linked article provides some perspective on manipulated consumerism.
Check It Out: Why We Hunger For the Latest Gizmo. Or iPhone
It is also an empty measure of self worth. The feeling good about oneself just doesn’t last leaving one to feel empty once more. The next new thing continues the cycle leading to a sense that things are vain or empty. Solomon wrote about this thousands of years ago in Ecclesiastes.
I think back in the day it was called ‘vanity’.