Characters of Interest

Something I think most people don’t realize is that humans are locked in competition with each other to be “characters of interest”. Practically every problem in the world and throughout the history of this species stems from this (silent and deadly) contest.

Characters of interest are the ones who are typically rewarded with opportunities, access to resources (for both comfort and survival), attention and sexual gratification…

Ultimately, a character of interest is what every person wants to be and/or is striving to become.

What do geniuses, the gifted and talented, socialites, beautiful people, entertainers, royalty, politicians, savvy businessmen, pariahs, provocateurs, spiritual masters, and (in less stellar fashion) social predators, like rapists, racists and serial killers, all have in common?

They’re characters of interest. They hold and steer interest towards themselves. For humans, “interest” typically translates into opportunities and relationships, and subsequently, “success”: which is the ability to capture value from society or other humans, in the form(s) of resources, pleasure, power, relationships and assurances, such as praise, idolization and idealization, etc.

This is why each and every one of these categorical distinctions has droves and droves of people clamouring to make names for themselves in and through these (social) lanes…

Jealousy, the fear of invisibility, the fear of authenticity in others, the scarcity mindset (which is the underpinning of the ideologue-mentality), the fear of exclusion, etc… Are all things born from this unspoken need and desire to be a character of interest.

All of these things stem from this silent contest… this unspoken rule that says: “In order to survive, I must be visible; I must be louder, brighter, smarter, prettier and faster — more important than the others. To consume, I must be worthy of the troth; if not by achievement, then by suppressing and crushing the presence, talent and achievements of others.”

And with more people being born every day, and resources drying up exponentially faster as the days pass — the lion share of which going to society (via institutions and industries), the need to be a person of interest seems more and more crucial, yet ironically, harder and harder to attain.

Every strife… every competition in society boils down to one simple concept: “I must be interesting enough to gain notice and capture value from the hive. That is the only way I will survive.”