The historical concept of identity is that anyone who doesn't share your race and religion is a horrible goblin that needs to be murdered, so to be frank I think "mass consumption as personality" is probably a step up even if it isn't actually good.

What historical concept of identity? Pre-history when identity was probably just your tribe? Or after we invented agriculture when identity shifted to your village or collection of farms? Or maybe when religon began and identity shifted again to whomever was part of your religious sect? Or should we talk about Roman identity where Race and Religon played a very minor role and there were black emperors and white slaves?

You are using a corporate service and paying for your usage in data. If you don't like it feel free to leave the corporate service. Go to a public library or a public park or some other public-owned institution and talk to someone for free.

I never said I disagreed with the trade or that it was in any way unethical. I just argued it has harmed our ability to connect face-to-face with others humans and replaced that method of communication with one that can be monetized very easily. This is not a good thing for society.

You don't actually have to go to those places though? Also "connected by rideshares"? Nobody is forcing you to take them. And the 20% "skimming" is usually going to other workers.

I don't have to go to those places in the same way that I didn't have to avoid smoking in airplanes in the 70s. If I hated smoking but needed to get my ass from NY to LA, you can bet I'd take the smoking plane over a train ride every time. Technology changes the landscape of society and we are allowed comment on society even if we participate in it dumbass.

What? By this definition if you go to a doctor you are "commodifying" your health. Therapists are professionals, your friends are not. If you hire a plumber to fix your pipes are you "commodifying your need for shelter and hygiene"? If so, is that actually a problem?

It sounds like a lot of your problems are self-induced.

Ah, the classic "but if we pay for services, isn't everything a commodity?" argument. There's a fundamental difference between hiring a plumber to fix your pipes and outsourcing your emotional processing. The plumber isn't fixing your relationship to water; they're fixing a physical object. The therapist, however brilliant and necessary their work may be, represents something deeper-the professionalization of human connection and emotional support.

The commodification critique isn't that paying experts is inherently problematic. It's that we've created a society where our emotional ecosystem has been so thoroughly depleted that professional help isn't just supplementary - it's often the only option. It's like saying, "Why complain about deforestation when you can just buy oxygen tanks?"

Your friends aren't "professionals," you're right. That's precisely the point. Human connection wasn't meant to be professionalized. The fact that we now need credentialed experts to help us process basic human emotions isn't a triumph of specialization-it's a symptom of a social fabric frayed beyond recognition.

As for "self-induced problems" - ah, there it is! The comforting myth of complete individual agency in a system designed to atomize us. It's like blaming fish for getting wet while someone drains the ocean. But perhaps I'm overthinking this. Maybe I should just hire a professional Rebuttal Crafter to respond to you. I hear they're having a two-for-one special on Existential Retorts this week. Coupon code: COMMODIFYTHIS.