It seems like every time you turn around, there are new trends being discussed by talking heads. Are we paying too much attention to these trends, many of which are transitory? And what impact does it have on our quality of life and the planet as a whole when we jump from one fleeting fad to another?

A recent Vox article on this topic caught my eye, with the headline “Trends Are Dead.” I have to admit, I’m guilty of propagating trends. An example is The Great Resignation, which morphed into The Great Reshuffle, and several other forms. While there is some benefit to understanding what drives some of these things, like why it is so hard to hire and retain talent, there is danger in shifting strategies at what often seems like a whim.

The article notes, “Harper’s Bazaar fashion news director Rachel Tashjian declared that ‘we’re living through a mass psychosis expressing itself through trend reporting.’ There is, I would argue, as much reporting as there is trend manufacturing. No one is sure exactly what a trend is anymore or if it’s just an unfounded observation gone viral. The distinction doesn’t seem to matter, since TikTok—and the consumer market—demands novelty. It creates ripe conditions for a garbage-filled hellscape where everything and anything has the potential to be a trend.”