Everything Looks The Same

Rival products (burgers, pop songs, political parties) tend to grow more alike over time, because creators copy more successful rivals to replicate their success and steal their customers/audiences.

Paradoxically, this increases the value of being different.

And I hear all sorts of interesting worries and anxieties from people. Lots of people say something like, “Oh, I would like to be more playful and passionate, but that’s not what the world cares about. The world only cares about what is popular, what is controversial, what makes money.” To which I say – so what? You don’t have to care about what... See more

One philosophical objection I have to Silicon Valley is that people are very derivative. They tend to rely too much on what other people do. When everyone relies on what everyone else does, you end up getting a deeply mimetic-culture where no one thinks for themselves.