Is Consumerism Killing Our Creativity?

At first thought, maybe yes. People are more likely to shop online for good deals than sit in their houses doing needlepoint. People waste their energy on "things" and in the process stop creating ideas. Excess spoils and we know artists only thrive on want. With the lack of things people create.

I landed on the article, Is Consumerism Killing Our Creativity via twitter. "But why is consumerism – and particularly, an online hunt for the ideal purchase – so addictive? It turns out that our consumerist impulse stimulates the same part of the brain that fires when we’re on the trail of a great idea. As we go through the trial and error of executing an idea – What if I tried this? Ah! Now what about this? – we’re using those same wanting, hunting, getting instincts but in a nobler pursuit."

Yeah, consumerism is product of our creative impulses. If we stop to consider the questions, we begin to realize consumerism is not killing our creativity, but fueling it. In a consumeristic world, there is competition for better and more creative ideas. Boring, old, and stale thinking is mercily trampled by the market, and thus without creative solutions, one is rendered crippled. Consumerism accelerates creativity. Among the many options out there, the only way to stand out and remain relevant is to infuse your art/product/service/being with the utmost creativity. Consumerism does not murder creativity but relies on it as the key ingredient in modern life.