Petty Petty Pet Peeves
Let Me Have This Tiny Rant
I am indulging in a childish urge here. I will be stating the obvious about stating the obvious. But I have to. If I don’t I will end up walking around like a crazy lady cussing to myself.
Confirmation bias pulp. It is fucking everywhere.
That’s the perfect way to put it—confirmation bias pulp. Just pre-chewed, easy-to-digest wisdom that reinforces what people already want to believe. No real challenge, no friction, just a nice little ego stroke wrapped in faux intellectualism. Well guess what, throwing a cheap trinket in a Tiffany’s box is not going to magically turn zirkonia into diamonds, now is it. But, people believe what they want to believe.
It’s why these things go viral. They make people feel seen without making them uncomfortable. “Oh wow, admitting I was wrong makes me wise and intellectually humble? Love that for me.” No actual self-examination required.
Is this kind of thinking getting worse, or has it always been around—just repackaged for social media? I am not that socially savvy, but my Substack notes feed is full of these slippery suckers.
It is the kind of neatly packaged nauseatingly sweet and soothing wisdom that is bloody everywhere. It sounds profound at first glance, but it’s really just stating the obvious in a way that flatters the reader. Fancy that.
It makes people feel smart for agreeing with something incredibly basic.
Some writers and “modern thinkers” have a bizarre knack for regurgitating these kinds of statements—phrases that sound “deep” but don’t really challenge anyone. They’re non-threatening, easily digestible, and give the illusion of insight without requiring much critical thought. That’s probably why they go viral. Swallowing them mindlessly does not make you smarter. It makes you a fat chick that won’t learn how to fly. You need to get kicked out of the comfort of your own nest to figure that out.
No harm done? Maybe not, but they do contribute to a culture of intellectual shallowness. They reward people for nodding along instead of thinking for themselves and scratch the surface a bit. They remind me of a brief encounter I had with a young man who had just made his first millions in Dubai with some weird semi-scientific health device. He had celebrated it by diving into the jungle to “become a shaman”. Neither the device nor the shaman status fooled me. He was full of it. Of what? Well, mostly himself. He also came in very nice packaging, in the shape of someone who could have easily be mistaken for a catwalk model, and maybe that was in part why he got away with it.
It’s not that these statements are wrong per se—they’re just so obvious that they don’t add much value. Worse, they create the illusion that by consuming them, you’re engaging in meaningful self-reflection when really, you’re just digesting the intellectual equivalent of a Yogi tea bag tag.
The real issue is that these platitudes often sidestep complexity. Context matters, and platitudes erase that.
When you are peckish you don’t have to cook yourself a six course Michelin grade dinner. Sometimes fish, chips and mushy peas also satisfy a craving. But my brain functions very differently from my stomach. It does not settle for the Snickers variety of a quick snack. Like a sugar dip, lack of intellectual sustenance also makes me cranky. And frankly, a bit of a bitch.
We don’t need more random, shallow statements that actively discourage thinking. I don’t want “duuuhhhh”, I crave “oohhhh!!”. I started writing an essay on social media and confirmation bias a few weeks back, titled “Now Tell Me Something I don’t Know” but it was becoming a bit bitter, even for me.
We are worth more than a temporary dopamine hit of self-satisfaction.
These platitudes have the same energy as cracking open a fortune cookie and reading, “Change is inevitable, growth is optional.” Sure, ehm true that, but, oh well… okay? And then you just continue to digest your prawn toast, the chicken in black bean sauce washed down with a few bottles of Tiger beer and move on with your life, unchanged.
It is like cracking an egg in a non stick pan. I don’t want my evolution as a human being covered in Teflon. I want things to stick. Leave their mark.
It’s funny because a lot of it sounds almost profound, but not quite. Just enough to make people feel good about themselves without actually challenging their beliefs. That’s the sweet spot for viral “wisdom.”
Do people actually believe these statements are deep, or is it more about the comfort of easy truths?
Don’t get me wrong. Despite my unfathomably low consumption level, I am a sucker for packaging. Stick a pretty label on a wine bottle and I will be sure to give it a sip.
But when it comes to words, whenever I come across this dip shit nonsense, I will scroll on, ignore and pretend I did not see it. I do not wish to waste precious brain space on it. Because that is what it is to me. Wasted space. Space where words that could have made an actual difference should have been. Tickle my curiosity, but don’t tickle my ego. I am just not vain enough to appreciate it.
I have to admit I am at fault here too. Because close to the platitudes are the serial repetitions of famous quotes. Words that once held meaning, that were like a newly discovered treasure, do all loose their lustre when shared too often. When repeated often enough, you can make the greatest philosophers sound like cliches at the level of the petty pet peeve Yogi tea bag tag wisdoms.
From now on I will refrain. And let you unearth your treasures on your own. Have your awe inspiring “ooohhh” moments, instead of the dumb “duuuhhhsss”.
Because there is nothing sweeter than discovery, and that fleeting moment where those words belong only to you.