Jack Murray - BlogHuman problems that will always exist508 words (approx 3 min)

I got inspired by a recent quote I heard from Jeff Bezos about finding things that will never change, and why it is great for strategy. In his case, he posed that consumers will always want extremely low prices and the best selection. This formed the basis of his strategy for Amazon to become so successful. Putting whether or not Amazon is succeeding at this anymore aside, I do think it’s a great insight.

A business or product that contributes to solving a problem that will never go away entirely, and iterates to continuously solve that problem better and better, has a great chance for long term success. Funnily enough, the same applies to individuals’ lives, as many of these things are inherent human qualities.

So… I went on a little exploration of things I believe will either never (or not for a very long time) change. Here’s what I found.

1. People will always struggle getting, managing and parting with money due to the circumstances someone is born and raised, human impulses and desire, lack of financial education, poor incentive structures, and more
2. People will always seek social connection, status, and relationships as belonging is a forever human need due to our evolutionary psychology as we’re social animals
3. People will always struggle with health and fitness because movement, diet, etc are not part of a path of least resistance (and progressively less so, the way things are going)
4. People will always consume and enjoy food and drink, and varied, healthy and/or interesting cuisine and beverages are sensation-filled human experience
5. People will always want novelty, doing new things and exploring new places (and equally will always fall into hype cycles and trends of what everyone else is doing), as variety is a spice of life - such as travel, new activities, and so on.
6. People will always want to learn new things, build their skills, and see their progress in areas they’re interested in, even if not for money (e.g. hobbies like cycling or painting or language learning or entrepreneurship or powerlifting or something), as a journey and purpose requires growth
7. People will always have conflict with others that needs resolution - legal or otherwise, as individuals’ incentives misalign, accidents happen, and there are people out there taking advantage
8. People will always value choice, freedom, and flexibility in their life - like choosing where to work or what to do for work, what to work on, time flexibility, remoteness, time off, etc - as without it they are constrained slaves
9. People will always prefer to own their home, not just rent for their entire lives, despite the trend toward renting only - it feels part of human nature that people want safety and security, and owning where they live is a core psychological driver
10. People will always have health problems / deterioration in some form (like sickness, ageing, diseases like Alzheimers, injury, etc) and it will always be hard to transition into that phase of life or be remedied