Apoptosis

Last month, I came across a scientific term when trying to learn about the way embryos develop: apoptosis, the planned, orderly deletion of elements. I found out that some of our cells die in a controlled reaction. Without it, our hands would resemble fins, our nostrils would be blocked, and our eyelids would never open. 

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Perhaps our society, too, can use a bit of apoptosis in the next decade. I realized that I had started mine by holding back from buying the latest sneakers (since my shoe-size stopped changing) or by not purchasing a watch as an accessory to show off and instead looking at my good old iPhone 6 to tell the time. 

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It is like a matryoshka doll of problems. False ecological sensitivities contained in a shell of climate change and environmental disaster; contained within a shell of overconsumption. Despite all "eco- friendly" pretensions, conspicuous consumption is actually increasing. The wealthy do it to show off their virtues. The less-well-off do it to show off to each other. 

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Overconsumption is presented as a risk of "right-vs-wrong" consumption. To put it in another way; to save our planet, everyone thinks about buying more eco-friendly products; or paying green taxes. But few can consider not buying certain categories of products to save our planet. Not now, not never, not at all. 

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Few actually realize that the entire system, from the cheapest, toxic plastic toy to the earthiest, most "guilt-free" products, all present risks which we will have to face as a planet, sooner than we think. Here, then, is the question: Which parts of our material culture do we no longer need? Here is another: What can we do to cut out and simplify the extra bits? 

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This issue matters to me much because, as Ed Wood's Criswell says, "We are all interested in the future, for that is where you and I are going to spend the rest of our lives." I think that within my lifetime, societies around the world will seriously need to rethink ways of reducing the main body of frivolous consumption, the new-car-every- year-(even if it's a Tesla)-consumption, the can't-live- without-avocados-for-breakfast consumption. We will need to give up on the forms of consumption that were just forms of wealth-and-virtue-signaling all along because this is all about our future life. 

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But separating the necessity from luxury will not be an easy task. For example, is central heating a non-negotiable part of our modern lives? I would think so, but many Greeks would disagree. They were forced to give up central heating for wood stoves during the early 2010s-financial crisis. Life went on. Would most of us be willing to do the same if the future of our species was at stake? Neither will it be easy to convince people to give up (or pay more for) their amenities. You know, the French "yellow jacket" protests this year started due to an environmental fuel tax. 

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Going back to my proposal, what form will our apoptosis take? I believe that design, psychology, and social sciences will all stand out as essential tools in our societal toolkit when the push comes to shove. Even before that, it will not hurt to think about these issues —how to bring about apoptosis of consumption before things turn southwards. 

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Psychology and nudge theory will help us negotiate the fine line between necessities and wasteful social habits. They will investigate why people have such wasteful and self-harming consumption habits. This will help us identify the pleasure triggers of binge-shopping and one-upmanship and hopefully defuse them. Design will help us improve efficiency and weed out the otiose. A spectrum of new, crossover disciplines will fan out, some hitherto unknown, and bridge the gaps between design, psychology, STEM, and religion. 

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By immersing myself at the junction of the above issues, I, too, hope to reserve front-view seats — no— get to play in a front-line position in the upcoming apoptosis.