Modern Life is like a trap. Easy to enter, hard to exit.

I’m reminded of this when I saw a recent headline about a new lawsuit the federal government waged against one of America's biggest software companies. Adobe makes it impossible for customer cancel their products, locking them in, leaving them helpless.

This type of behavior by companies is normal if you ever tried to cancel your newspaper subscription. But this case against Adobe could cause a rapid change in how companies let you cancel for services. Right now, they can do whatever they want. And many of them make it very inconvenient.

Sometimes you have to do research to find out unwritten cancellation hacks for something as basic as cancelling a fitness gym membership.

Or what if you want to opt-out of your data being sold? Good luck with that.

And there are countless other examples in many domains of this phenomenon. Exiting commitments today is a nightmare because companies invest heavily in creating barriers to ensure a steady revenue stream: complex cancellation processes, hidden fees, and psychological tactics to dissuade you from leaving.

But it's not just companies making cancellations tough. This "easy to enter, hard to exit" ethos defines our age. We need to have a certain mindset in order to be able to combat this trend.

Reverse Parking Mindset

We need reverse parking mindset

Do you reverse park? Probably not. Most people don’t do it anymore. It used to be much more popular. But it’s a better system. For one thing, there’s less chance of an accident with another vehicle or pedestrian because you’re not backing into a traffic lane on the way out, you’re backing into an empty parking space on the way in.

It’s also technically better, cars steer from the front tires, requiring more space in front to change direction than in the back. It's actually safer and easier to reverse into tight spaces if you know how to do it. There's less chance of a collision when you don't have to swing the front of your car around whenever you enter or exit, and you can control the spacing much better.

Reverse parking requires you to take a little more thought when first entering. But when it’s time to exit, you go and you go quicker than anyone else who is stuck.

Characteristics of this mindset:

In This Newsletter

1) We Have Forgotten That Convenience is a Trap: In the modern world, we do not have skepticism of things that are convenient. We lost this ancient mindset. But when we look at traditional cultures, there are numerous proverbs that capture the essence of avoiding traps set by convenience.

2) The Endowment Effect and Path Dependency: Two important concepts. Modern life initially appears easy to enter. However, the endowment effect makes it difficult to let go of acquired possessions and habits, while path dependency locks individuals into certain life trajectories based on past decisions. Together, these concepts explain why modern life can feel like a trap.

We Have Forgotten That Convenience is a Trap

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