Episode 53 - Lal Bihari & Errand Paralysis
We have self-driving cars and AI assistants smart enough to manage our schedules. So why is Errand Paralysis so persistent? Because businesses need you to feel fatigued, that’s why...
On today’s episode we’re paying special attention to a Buzzfeed article written in 2019 by Anne Helen Petersen, and we’re looking at the term she popularized called Errand Paralysis. Or, as it was known a decade ago: Millennial Burnout. We’re going to discuss why businesses insist on making customers jump through hoops and use confusing, convoluted automated systems to claim rebates, file complaints, complete surveys, and generally get on with our lives. And we’ll discuss why living in today’s computer age feels more like being a “life admin” than simply “living.” These automated check-the-boxes-and-stay-on-the-line services aren’t just a minor inconvenience, either. With everything added up, we’re talking about tens of thousands of hours you’ll waste throughout your lifetime, as well as hundreds of billions of dollars we burn as a country due to errand burnout.
Finally, we’ll look at the most extreme example of Errand Paralysis in the entire world: the bizarre case of Lal Bihari and his Association of Dead People. A group of Indian land-owners who were given the run-around by their local government after they were legally declared dead. Several members of whom became so desperate to be recognized as “alive” on-paper, they began committing political crimes to get arrested.
History Links:
https://openthemagazine.com/features/india/the-living-dead/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lal_Bihari
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaagaz
Science Links:
https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/annehelenpetersen/millennials-burnout-generation-debt-work
https://www.consumerreports.org/medical-billing/sick-of-confusing-medical-bills/
https://www.hsrd.research.va.gov/for_researchers/cyber_seminars/archives/3633-notes.pdf