Talking with a friend who works in high-end medical aesthetics, I asked her: Why do all the girls nowadays want to have the same face?

She said: Because that face represents “I don’t lack money, and I have plenty of free time.”

I asked again: Are those delicate afternoon teas and five-star hotel check-ins on social media also for beauty? She sneered: Beauty is just the carrier; the core is a sense of superiority.

She told me she has a client earning six thousand a month, but dares to buy a three thousand dollar bag on installment. I asked: What’s the point? She said: The point is that when she places the bag on the table at a gathering, that instant of “looking down” sensation. That rush is much stronger than eating two more pieces of meat or earning five hundred more in salary.

Later, I realized that most of human consumption isn’t about functionality, but about “contempt power.”

If everyone lived the same, social circles wouldn’t exist. The reason for creating a persona is because we need to use the illusion of “I’m doing better than you” to offset the mediocrity in real life.