Are We Being Expected to Get Excited About Small Things?

[Recyclersteve]

Are We Being Expected to Get Excited About Small Things? Admittedly this is a complicated subject and our discussion can go in a lot of directions. But it seems that over the last 5-20 years (at least in the U.S.) we are increasingly expected to get excited about somewhat trivial things. Examples:

1) Fantasy sports
2) Reality TV
3) Facebook/Twitter/Social Media Likes and Followers
4) Participation trophies at school events
5) Lottery fever

Fantasy sports- around 2004 I was asked to join a fantasy baseball team at work. I did, and little did I know what to expect. For 162 games I had to check my lineup daily to see who was injured or had the day off to juggle my lineup. Also there were trades to be made or responded to. At the end of the year the grand prize was a "whopping" $20. That same day, I could make 10-100 times as much money trading stocks.

Reality TV- I understand that this may have really become the way to go as a method of creating TV shows on a budget. Nonetheless, who gives a rip about what the Kardashians are doing?

Facebook/Twitter/Social Media- It is still strange for me to hear a company advertise "Like us on Facebook". Really? Are you getting paid by the amount of likes you get? How much could you possibly make from this? I'd love to see a publicly traded company itemize revenue from Facebook Likes (and other social media) in their quarterly earnings reports. That would be a real eye opener.

Participation Trophies- I remember when there was a trophy for the winner. Sometimes, there would be Runner-Up and Honorable Mention. But a trophy for everyone? C'mon.

Lottery fever- Someone is paying for a commercial that says "You can't win if you don't play." Really? Don't I win (in a perverse way) by not wasting my money in the first place? I understand certain games where there is actual strategy (i.e., poker, stock trading), but something where there is absolutely no real system whatsoever and where you know for a fact that the lottery people have expenses to pay (salaries, building rental, etc.)- meaning that they will DEFINITELY pay out way less than they take in. Translation: over time you will lose money unless you are lucky. I don't want to rely on feeling lucky.

What other types of cheap thrills can you think of that are a part of society today? I am very curious to hear everyone's thoughts and I didn't mean to offend anyone (i.e., those who just played the billion dollar plus lottery).