33 Things Society Has Made Us Believe Are “Necessities” But People In This Online Group Argue They Are Addictions
What is considered normal highly depends on society’s view on it. Once high heels were a shoe that only wealthy men wore and now traditionally only women wear them. In some cultures, more fat on one’s body is associated with being wealthy as it means the person has money to feed themselves, but in other cultures, a lean body is the ideal of beauty.
This is the case with most aspects of our lives. But that means that people sometimes start to normalize things that are not the most healthy for their mind or body. Feeling like you have to be on your phone and always available, buying the newest technology or just craving sugar all the time have become necessities, but they are actually addictions, according to some people on Reddit who joined a thread started by Morticiar who asked “What is an addiction society pretends is a necessity?”
This thread got almost 45k upvotes in just a day and over 24k people wanted to join the conversation. They made some good points and challenged each other to think about what things people are addicted to that they don’t even realize are bad as they see them as necessities. We would like to know what you have to say on the topic, so we are looking forward to reading your comments!
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Obsessing over celebrities’ personal lives….
I don’t give a f**k who’s dating who, who had a baby, who got divorced, etc., and I don’t understand why anyone else does.
And we are making them richer and seemly more important by lavishing attention on them! Why can't people figure this out!
Load More Replies... And yet Bored Panda has so many posts obsessing over celebrities people love or hate...
And we don't care about the lives of the wealthy unless they're going to prison or paying their taxes.
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I don't understand it either. And why do.we need so many entertainment shows ? There's extra,inside edition,tmz,access hollywood and entertainment tonight
Or the rag sheets that people buy 🤔, my ex-husband would always look at and read them in the checkout at the stores. His sister would buy a copy of several different ones every trip to the store. I will not pick one up and don't read them. They're ridiculous.
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I must admit I really do struggle to understand why people are bothered about the lives of people they don't know and will most likely never meet. Being known to the public because of their jobs - singers, actors, etc doesn't make them special bar for those particular talents. Even if they appear to be lovely people in interviews, or even by some of the kind or charitable things they do, you don't know them. You certainly don't know what they are like at home with their family or what they are thinking.
They have just as many skeletons in their closet, just like the rest of ud.
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We interrupt this program to inform you that Kanye West took a sh*t. We now go Live to his mansion with a report.....
Greeks and Romans had the same hang-ups.... Must be inherent envy.............
Same. I find it odd wanting to know intimate details of other peoples lives - especially when they have privileged lives that make your own struggles feel invalid and get you down that you'll never have millions of pounds to fritter away on nonsense
This absolutely insane idea celebrities are somehow fair game for anyone and everyone, from commentary on their relationships to those putrid “ Look at them now! They had the gall to look OLD “ shock/horror articles is ludicrous. Nope, just because they gift us whatever talent by way of their art does NOT mean they signed away basic human dignity.
Pretty much like super models. If a 747 full of these self obsessed turds fell into a volcano, honestly, the world wouldn’t miss them.
If someone treats this as a necessity, then yeah, it's a problem. Otherwise, just because you dislike something doesn't make it bad :/
Same! I'm always surprised at.friends who know the names of all the actors in every movie we've seen, along with facts about their marriages, houses, and personal lives. I like their acting, that's all I know, anything else is just unnecessary information. It makes me wonder how many hours they put into researching these ppl and why no one thinks it's creepy or sad.
I used to. I truly don't care anymore. I pay just enough attention to the major stories that pop up. Just don't do anything truly awful and I'll still watch your movies or listen to your music or whatever. Your personal life is your business. I get stressed enough about my own.
And expensive weddings! That s**t is not normal.
We are invited to a wedding in a few months(wife's cousin), and we have to spend on at least, new clothes for her, me and our kid, transportation, as it is out of state, hotel room for at least two nights, gift of course. But yeah, thanks for the invite....
Mom culture. The idea that "mommy needs wine" all the time. Dragging down moms that don't agree with you. And as someone who is childless currently, the idea that we are NOT allowed to speak to you and offer any kind of advice because "you don't have children". I literally gave a new mom ideas on how to help her baby with gas (after dealing with it with my niece for a while) and she told me she didn't WANT my input because I don't have kids.
But the mommy needs wine culture really bothers me.
Alcohol! I’m so tired of people telling me I’m not living my life cause I don’t drink.
Alcoholism is actually an addiction. Everything else I've seen so far is just habitual behavior. People don't have seizures or heart failure when deprived of access to social media.
Filtered photos have become the norm. It needs to stop
This kind of filter is cute and adorable and there's nothing wrong with it. But I do agree on body enhancing ones that make you look not even real. That's why it's a hard thing to live up to
Working overtime and doing more work than the job description entails
Buying presents for each other all the time. Valentines, christmas, birthday, anniversary, new job etc etc.
Stop buying people s**t that they wouldnt buy themself.
Women beauty trends. Regularly getting nails done, eyelashes done, hair dyed and cut, and all the makeup and skin care products you need for your 12 step skincare routine. Yeah, it’s nice to take care of yourself or treat yourself. And hygiene is for sure important. But you shouldn’t have to go every few weeks and drop tons of money to feel pretty cause that’s what society says. And you don’t need endless products either.
Some people do it because they like to and that's fine, whats not is doing it because you feel ugly without it.
Cell phones. Constantly having it nearby, checking it all the time, having to be available 24/7 in case someone tries to contact you.
As someone who has this addiction, it's really not healthy and adds a lot of unnecessary stress to my life.
Some people are addicted to comparing their lives to others when they should really strive to be the best they can be. Trying to outperform others leads to endless frustration, but trying to outperform yourself leads to true improvement.
Working oneself to death
MrGlen456 said:
Sugar
noblechimp84 added:
Completely unnoticed. So much sugar in things people just don't expect or check. Thinking of sugar as a drug has helped me enjoy it more responsibly.
The entire (side) hustle culture. I understand the need/desire and do it myself too. But I find it insane that we need to monetize almost every waking moment.
Sometimes a side hack is a good thing, I'm currently trying to turn my side hack into a full-time job. In a world where sensible people hesitate to quit one job before lining up another, or to change careers without doing a hell of a lot of groundwork, the side hack can be more than an attempt to monetize every waking moment, it can be a way to transition into a great big life change.
trying to look the best on social media. I dont get it and never will
The ultimate flex is having an awesome life and no social media presence. You're not meant to spend your life living vicariously through others!
Shopping
This addiction is actually a medically recognized addiction with it’s own name – Oniomania.
Constant profit. Its called greed, and not only unnecessary but is extremely dangerous. It is not sustainable.
The lotto. It’s really fun to imagine what you would do if you won. If you’re not blowing tons of money on it. That could be worth it right there. But it’s so expensive, and your chances are like .00001 of winning something you can retire with.
Being too connected to friends or social media, you don't need to be constantly on your phone and stopping what you are doing every 5 minutes to look at your phone.
Fast/unhealthy food.
It used to be all you could afford. Now it's the same price as a restaurant!
Cars. At least American society.
Most countries in the developed world don't use them nearly as much, and are considered some of the best places to live in the world.
Americans are unhealthily obsessed with car culture.
Problem is our entire infrastructure is revolved around cars. The streets, the gas stations, the highways, and the parking lot. All for cars. To put in effective public transportation would be cost prohibitive. Plus, we complain when they have road work to put in another lane(don't get me started on how this doesn't help) can you imagine the uproar of all the roadwork to put in a light rail?
"You gotta be a doctor!!" - Lots more jobs and fields that make more than doctors..
Plus unless you’re a specialist, you’re not making great money in the grand scheme of traditionally profitable careers. Never mind malpractice insurance.
GDP. Everyone act as if GDP must goes up every year. And everyone act as like an ever increasing GDP benefits them when they need to work harder to afford the same standard of living.
Getting stuff delivered ASAP!
well if its delivered later, ill realize i dont even really want it, we cant have that now can we???
Diet
Well, I would say not eating a healthy, well balanced diet, but fad diets
Positivity. Like, all the time, about anything and everything - you MUST always try to see the positive side about things. I mean, of course it's good to try and see things on a brighter side, but some things are just plain shitty, no more and no less, and they can be treated as such. I'm not gonna try and look on the bright side of people getting seriously ill or stuff like that.
Exactly. I will admit that I try to stay positive as much as possible, but it really isn't possible all the time, and sometimes that's okay.
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I hardly believe there are people who find even quarter of these things necessity. A couple, maybe several, if they are teenagers (i do remember myself pretending I'm not indifferent to smth to feel part of some subculture)
the social media ones really are accurate. in my county (Montgomery county, Maryland, USA) , someone shot someone n in the bathroom (at Macgruder high school) and there were multiple witnesses and none of them called 911 but they posted on social media and they might be charged for it too. there were also multiple gun threats near my school recently so that has not been fun (I'm in middle school)
I up voted everything except one. Caffeine. Just can't bring myself to do that. Usually the only ones, with a few exceptions, that I up vote this much are about animals.
None of these are necessities unless you're a moron. Pathetic that anyone should think these have any kudos at all. If you do... step back and reevaluate your priorities
Positivity. Like, all the time, about anything and everything - you MUST always try to see the positive side about things. I mean, of course it's good to try and see things on a brighter side, but some things are just plain shitty, no more and no less, and they can be treated as such. I'm not gonna try and look on the bright side of people getting seriously ill or stuff like that.
Exactly. I will admit that I try to stay positive as much as possible, but it really isn't possible all the time, and sometimes that's okay.
Load More Replies... I hardly believe there are people who find even quarter of these things necessity. A couple, maybe several, if they are teenagers (i do remember myself pretending I'm not indifferent to smth to feel part of some subculture)
the social media ones really are accurate. in my county (Montgomery county, Maryland, USA) , someone shot someone n in the bathroom (at Macgruder high school) and there were multiple witnesses and none of them called 911 but they posted on social media and they might be charged for it too. there were also multiple gun threats near my school recently so that has not been fun (I'm in middle school)
I up voted everything except one. Caffeine. Just can't bring myself to do that. Usually the only ones, with a few exceptions, that I up vote this much are about animals.
None of these are necessities unless you're a moron. Pathetic that anyone should think these have any kudos at all. If you do... step back and reevaluate your priorities
