We, the homo sapiens have always had a subconscious desire to look up to someone more powerful, richer, or glamorous. Be it Lord Ganesha, Warren Buffet, or Shah Rukh Khan, the interest we’ve shown to listen to their stories and lives is prodigious.

Falling prey to the fear of missing out on the Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations, I caught a bus back home to Mumbai where I ended up catching the last performance of the day! A few youngsters were on stage walking the ramp, dressed as Bollywood heroines and dancing. This was when I couldn’t help but wonder what it was about celebrities that makes us admire them so much. Why are we (the Gen-Z) so interested in their lives?

According to Maslow’s Need Hierarchy Theory, we, the homo sapiens, have an urge to fulfil our affiliation and belonging needs which means wanting to get affection, a sense of belongingness, and a feeling of acceptance from our peers. At an age where peer pressure could easily become the steering wheel of our lives, the opportunity cost of us not being accepted due to ignorance is high. Satisfying our social needs becomes our primary motive and also acts as an incentive for us to get influenced by them. This is because of the psychology which plays in most teenagers' minds! Is not knowing about the “stars” worth not being accepted among a group of people? If watching them is all it takes, might as well do it?!

The opportunity cost in play here is- not being accepted among peers due to ignorance, and this in turn acts as a negative incentive for us to know more about the so-called “pop culture”. Thus, social pressure here, acts as the thrust to the start of fan-following. However, there is no such thing as a free lunch. We end up paying through our time and social energy. Spending time scrolling on social media builds up the profiles of the influencers getting them returns, while we end up losing hours that could have been put to better use. All of this just to get a sense of belonging? Well, yes! (at least that’s what the Gen-Z would say!) after all there are no solutions, only trade-offs! Everything falls prey to Goodhart’s law, and so do we! “When a measure becomes a target, it ceases to be a good measure”. We use the personal lives of celebrities or hang out with the popular kids in college as a measure to satisfy our social needs and in the process, start admiring them for the wrong reasons. What started as a measure to break the ice or fulfil needs, ended up with us getting influenced and even looking up to them!

1000 years down the lane, we would still be called “homo” sapiens, the generations which always looked up to “a man” more powerful, richer, or glamorous! We surely did live up to our names! After all, if not anyone else, I did make Charles Darwin proud!

by Shreya Sai Duddu