3 Lessons For Living In The New World

We live in a new world. You need to learn how to live in it.

The “New World” is the term I like to use for the time period from 2008 until now.

2008 was the year of the worldwide financial crash. It was the year where social media first started taking off. The difference between life in, say, 2015 and 2005 is drastic. And the difference between 2024 and 1980 is absolutely massive.

New technology has changed things so radically that the time before 2008 can almost be seen as an entirely different reality. So different that we may as well call the time we live in now a “New World”.

The ever advancing technology of the New World has changed things so drastically that it can be hard to keep pace and adapt with the world as it changes. And a lot of the advice passed down to us by our parents and grandparents is outdated and hasn’t kept pace with the times.

So, here I present to you 8 lessons that will help you adapt and take advantage of the New World you find yourself in.

1. You can try on any identity that you like

Many of us live in cities with millions upon millions of people. New York has a population of 8 million people. London has 8.9 million. Tokyo has 14 million.

Our brains, which evolved to live in tribes of no more 150 people at a time, simply can’t comprehend just how many people this is.

Just imagine a football stadium with 60,000 people in it; every single seat filled. Ok? Now imagine this number of people x 200. Can your brain even fathom just how many people that is. Try to picture all of those people.

With this many people, in a city like New York or London, the chances of running into somebody that you know is far slimmer than you can understand.

Because of this, you are absolutely free to take on any identity you like on any given day.

You could dress up as a goth and cover yourself in fake tattoos on Friday and go to a metal concert. On Monday, you could dress up in a smart suit and pretend to be a Wall Street business tychoon. On Tuesday, you could dress up as a stylish, University professor and hang out at hipster cafes.

You might be worried that you’ll run into somebody that you know, but that isn’t going to happen because the population size of the city is so unbelievably huge. And it becomes even less likely if you travel to a different city.

It’s hard for our brains to understand this, because we’re built to live in tribes where everybody knows everybody else. But we don’t live in tribes anymore. Most of us don’t live in small villages anymore. We live in giant, incredibly densely populated cities.

So if you ever feel like being a emo, punk rocker for a day. Go ahead! The only thing stopping you is your limiting beliefs. You can try on any identity you like and nobody is going to notice.

2. There are SO MANY people on the internet

Something that continues to baffle and confuse people is the sheer scale of the internet.

There are so many people here!

You might look at the comments section, or on Twitter, and find the most crazy and insane views you can possible imagine. Seeing idiotic and crazy views everywhere, it’s easy to get the idea that everybody is a crazy imbecile. But you have to remember the sheer scale of how many people are here.

Everybody is here. People with depression. People with bipolar disorder. Psychopaths and sociopaths. Socially isolated people. And lot of other people who probably need therapy.

Everybody online might seem crazy, but when you speak to people in the real world, is everyone really that mad? Or are most people fairly normal and reasonable?

By the same token, because there are simply so many people here on the internet, there is always somebody who is going to be interested in your niche.

When I wrote my book: MediaVsReality — A Guide To The New World, I thought I would get no more than 4–5 sales. After all, I only had a very small following.

But so far I have sold more than 50 copies of my book. Where did these people come from?!, I thought to myself. I had underestimated just how many people were silently following my content.

There are so many people here, that it’s possible for anyone to build up a small audience of a few hundred or a few thousand people.

3. The Paradox Of Choice

Around a year ago I wrote an article on the paradox of choice in the modern day.

Because of technology we have an absolutely overwhelming number of choices in every single area of our lives.

Dating apps allow us to swipe through tens of thousands of potential partners. Social media shows us an unlimited different number of lifestyle options and career options we could have. Try to buy a new laptop and you have 100’s of options to choose from.

This paradox of choice means we waste a huge amount of time standing still, scratching our heads and wondering what to choose. It means we never really commit to any of our choices and we’re constantly wondering if a better option is available right around the corner.

We might feel great about having such a huge variety of options, but the truth is that options don’t actually exist. Options only exist in our imagination. An option only becomes real when it is chosen.

And it you don’t commit to any of your choices, you won’t experience any depth or richness in any area of life.

To solve the paradox of choice, make a choice and stick with your choice for a reasonable period of time.

Date someone, and give it at least 2–3 months to grow before moving onto anybody else. Choose a career path and stick to it for at least 1–2 years before trying something different. Look at 2–3 laptops and then just choose one!

You don’t need to make the perfect choice. It won’t make any difference. A choice can only become perfect after you commit to it.

Don’t learn this lesson and you’ll spend your entire time on this planet skirting around the edges of this life as an outsider.

These are my 3 lessons for living in The New World.