📘 Part 3: Consumer habits

This episode's vocabulary

• Built-in/planned obsolescence - the fact that a product is intentionally designed and made so that it will not last for a long time.
• To accumulate (verb) - to gradually increase in number or amount.
• Toxin (noun) - a poisonous substance, especially one produced by bacteria, that causes disease.
• Water table (noun) - the level below the surface of the ground at which you start to find water.
• Consumerist (adj.) - relating to a society in which a lot of goods are sold to individuals, and this activity is very important to the economy.
• To equate (verb) - to consider one thing to be the same as or equal to another thing.
• Necessity (noun) - the need for something.
• Deliberately (adverb) - intentionally.
• Horrendous (adj.) - extremely unpleasant or bad.
• Immoral (adj.) - morally wrong, or outside society's standards of acceptable, honest, and moral behaviour.
• To adjust (verb) - to become more familiar with a new situation.
• Neuroplasticity (noun) - the ability of the brain to form new connections and reorganize itself as a reaction to new experiences or information.
• Adaptable (adj.) - able or willing to change in order to suit different conditions.
• To crystallize (verb) - if something crystallizes your thoughts or opinions, it makes them clear and fixed.
• Status symbol (noun) - a thing that people want to have because they think other people will admire them if they have it.
• Durability (noun) - the quality of being able to last a long time without becoming damaged.
• Radically (adverb) - completely or extremely.
• Fundamentally (adj.) - in a basic and important way.

Questions and Answers

M: Does consumption have any impact on the environment?

R: Absolutely. Have you seen the mountains of rubbish building up in places all over the world? And that's all because people want the latest version of something, or because of some kind of built-in obsolescence that makes you need a new thing by design. So all of this trash accumulates, and it doesn't just sit there. It breaks down over time and releases toxins into the air or the water table, and that can't be good for anyone.

M: Why do some people always want to buy new things to replace the old ones?

R: Well, part of it will be the obsolescence I mentioned before, but there's also this consumerist mindset people seem to have where having the latest thing is equated with a higher status. That's a combination of necessity and, well, imagined need too.

M: Why do some people replace things more often than others?

R: Aside from the reasons I mentioned, some goods are lower quality and fall apart more easily than others, so they need to be replaced somehow.

M: And do you think it's a trend that goods are lower quality and fall apart more easily for people to buy new things?

R: Yes, that's a horrendous thing to do. If you can do something well and avoid the problem of rubbish building up in the environment, then you should do that. It's immoral to do anything else.

M: Why do young people change things more often than old people?

R: I'm not sure how true that is anymore, to be honest, but assuming they do, it might be because older people have a harder time adjusting to new things, so they just prefer to stick with what they've got. Younger people have more neuroplasticity, so they can be more adaptable.

M: And what do you mean by neuroplasticity?

R: Their brains are faster to adjust to new circumstances and ways of doing things because they're younger, their brains are fresher, for lack of a better term. Older people don't have that, their brains are crystallized, or their understandings of how things function are more crystallized.

M: And that's why young people buy more things, buy things more often?

R: Yes, because they're more prepared to do it, whereas older people are not.

M: Why do some people like to buy expensive things?

R: Like I said, it's a status symbol for some people and for others, maybe they associate the higher price with greater durability and higher quality. Since if something costs more than it's reasonable to expect it will last longer or be of higher quality in some way.

M: And do you think it's true that something which is super expensive is durable and of good quality?

R: Generally, yes, it is. Otherwise, what are you paying for? There will be times when that is not true, but the general rule is that this is the case.

M: Why do some people prefer to buy things in the supermarket rather than online?

R: Well, it's hard to say, really, but it's possible that they might want to see and touch goods before buying them, so they can better judge the quality. I mean, a vegetable you see online might be radically different when it's delivered to your door.

M: Do you think that people's buying habits will change in the future, and how?

R: Well, yeah, there will be new products and things to buy, which will influence that, unless you mean more fundamentally, will people need to buy things? In which case it won't change, because people have always needed to buy things.

M: Thank you, Rory, for your answers!

R: Whoa, capitalism being criticized.

Discussion

M: Yeah, dear listener, so here we talk about the consumption of goods, this constant buying, selling, selling, buying, buying new things. And this idea we talked about. Oh, what's the technical name for this idea, when companies make goods of low quality and they need to be changed all the time?

R: I think it's... I mean, I call it built-in obsolescence, but other people call it planned obsolescence. But the idea is that you plan for something to fail, so you have a product ready for people to buy again, which is really quite gross, I think. It's done so that companies can generate more products so they can make more money. That's the ultimate goal.

M: Yeah, dear listener, so planned obsolescence, okay? If you have no idea what it is, please read about it in your native language. It will be good for your essays as well. Okay? Because one of the essay's topics was this: "Nowadays, people buy more second-hand goods rather than new things." And you can kind of write about this as well. So the consumption of goods or products impacts the environment or has an impact, influence on the environment. And Rory talks about the mountains of rubbish building up in places all over the world. So mountains of rubbish are building up. So there are more and more mountains of rubbish, of trash, of garbage. You can use all these words to mean rubbish. People want the latest version of something. The latest? Like the newest version. So they want a brand new phone or a brand new laptop, a new model of this phone.

R: And I should say it is the latest, not the last. I'm saying this because some students I was teaching recently had a problem with that, and they kept saying the last instead of the latest. So it's the latest or the most recent.

M: Yeah, the most recent model or design. And people do this because of built-in obsolescence. Obsolescence?

R: Well, they might.

M: Wait, wait. How do you pronounce this word? Built-in...

R: Obsolescence.

M: Oh, obsolescence. Okay.

R: Or planned obsolescence.

M: Yeah. Built-in or planned obsolescence. The fact that a product is intentionally designed and made so that it will not last for a long time. And actually, that's true, because our phones, well, they kind of, they can last like, four or five years, which is a long time, but then you have to replace it. Okay?

R: Yeah.

M: For example, laptops, they just stop working. They just, you know... Like after five years, they're just, you know, six, five years, usually. Thank you companies, it's not like one year or two years. Yeah?

R: But also, you know, it would be great if you could have things that are not planned to go obsolete.

M: No. And all this trash accumulates, dear listener. It kind of gathers together. Okay? All this trash from all these goods accumulates over time, and because of this, toxins are released into the air. Water table. What's this? Water table.

R: A water table is part of the environment where water has accumulated. So if it's on the surface, then it's important, because that water is used for drinking. But if it's also mixed in with rubbish or trash which is decomposing and releasing things into the water table, then people could end up drinking it. And that's not good.

M: Yeah, dear listener, here, a water table is not a table, okay?

R: No, it's not an actual table. A water table is where water is located in an area.

M: Yeah. So it's the level below the surface of the ground at which you start to find water.

R: Some people use this to drink, and that's not good if they're drinking stuff which is contaminated.

M: Oh... Okay. So we replace old goods or products with new things, and part of it will be obsolescence. So built in obsolescence. Well, because the products are designed like this. Okay? So this contributes to the consumerist mindset people have. So we have this consumerism society, and today, people have this consumerist mindset. That people buy things all the time. They think it's okay and they need to buy things nonstop. So people have this consumerist mindset, and they think that the latest device is equated with a higher status. So is equated? Is equal, is the same as a higher status. So if you have the latest model of a smartphone, this means that you have a high status.

R: Allegedly.

M: Some goods or products are of lower quality. So we just say some things are lower quality and they fall apart more easily. That's why they need to be replaced. Passive voice. Low-quality products need to be replaced. Or products which fall apart, which get destroyed easily, more easily than others, need to be replaced. An interesting answer Rory gave to the question about young people who usually...

R: I got the feeling you didn't like that answer.

M: No, no, no, actually, no. I tell the truth. Like I liked the answer about neuroplasticity. What do you call it again? How do you pronounce it? Neuro...

R: Neuroplasticity. Yeah. Their brains are more adaptable, so they're more able to take things up.

M: Yeah, and that's true. It's, kind of, physiology. Right, Rory? And here, dear listener, if you say this neuro... If I can pronounce it. Wait.

R: If you can say it.

M: Neuroplasticity. Neuroplasticity, psychology, specialized term. So if you can talk about neuroplasticity, you will sound like an educated super native speaker, okay? Like almost a professor, dear listener. The capacity of the central nervous system to recover function is technically called neuroplasticity. Adolescence is a period of increased neuroplasticity. Adolescence? Like teenage years, and then we are losing it over time. So as we grow older, we lose this neuroplasticity, so we become less adaptable, so we can't adapt easily to things. That's why young people buy more, okay? They want more new things, while older people have a harder time adjusting to new things. Okay? So when Rory gets his new phone, he will have a hard time adjusting to it, because everything will be new, everything will go different, Rory. Are you ready for this? Are you sure? Are you will be okay?

R: Are you calling me old?

M: Yes. How old are you?

R: Rude.

M: No, because I'm the same. I have a dreadful time adjusting to a new phone. It's just life crisis, okay? Yeah, let alone a new laptop. What about you, dear listener? Are you young or are you old? If you have problems adjusting to a new smartphone... Well...

R: Your neuroplasticity is shot.

M: Yes. So old people prefer to stick with what they have. Expensive things. Or you can say pricey things or costly things, or things which cost a fortune. Okay? We talk about Louis Vuitton bags, Gucci bags, Lamborghini cars, Maserati, Bugatti, and Ferrari, okay? Luxury houses. I can go on and on. Well, it's a status symbol for some people. So you buy a Hermes, which costs, what, several million dollars. One bag costs several million dollars. Rory, can you imagine?

R: No, I cannot. I can't imagine paying that much for a bag. That is insane.

M: Usually, expensive things have greater durability.

R: Yes, usually. Not if they're worth millions of dollars, though.

M: They are of higher quality, and it's reasonable to expect such things to last longer. So to serve you for a long time, people who prefer going to the supermarket enjoy touching goods with their hands, to kind of check in them, judge the quality by touching, by looking at physical objects. A vegetable you see online may be radically different, like very different, when it's delivered to your door. Goods are delivered to your door. Passive voice. Rory, but you buy food online? Yeah?

R: I don't buy food online. No, I buy it from a supermarket. I'm going to buy food after this recording, actually.

M: Oh, okay.

R: But the reason for that is less connected to how it looks, and more to do with the dates because I need to buy products for specific time periods, so I want to check the sell-by dates on them.

M: And do you buy all of your food in one shop? Or you kind of go and buy meat from butchers, fish from fishmongers, and flowers from a flower kiosk.

R: A florist. Well, I could, but I don't want to. I only go to two shops really. One is a discount store in the middle of town, and that's partially for the walk and partially for the prices. And then there's another convenience store, which is up the road from where I live, and that has good meal deals which cover everything nicely.

M: Sweet. And Rory buys only ready-prepared meals. Okay, dear listener? He cooks eggs in his microwave.

R: Untrue, untrue. I also buy steak, which I put on the grill.

M: Ooh... And these are the only kitchen appliances. Rory has. A grill, a fridge. Do you have a fridge? You have a fridge. I have a fridge, a freezer, a microwave and an oven. I have it all. I just don't use it. I have a tenant who uses all of them.

M: Oh... Nice.

R: It is. Well, for him.

M: Thank you very much for listening, dear listener! Hope you're doing fine! So we gonna go to Oxford together with Rory.

R: Don't pay a million dollars for a bag.

M: Excellent. Bye!

R: Bye!

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