What if I told you that the biggest problems in your life each had an easy solution? That posing for 20 seconds like a superhero before a big job interview would bag you the role, or that sleeping longer was actually a path to maximum productivity?1 What if it were that simple? These questions, and purported answers, are the basis of what journalist Jesse Singal refers to as “Primeworld”—the land of seemingly quick fixes. He critiques this TED Talk–inspired concept that people’s behavior is driven, and alterable, by subtle forces. For example, psychologists have found that holding a warm beverage makes people more likely to behave warmly toward others. The logic metastasizes from there: With a nice cup of hot cocoa warming us up, who would remember what the latest international This story is from Kinfolk Issue Forty-Four Buy Now Related Stories Arts & Culture Issue 47 Alice Sheppard On dance as a channel to commune with the body—even when it hurts. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Dr. Woo Meet the tattoo artist who's inked LA. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Walt Odets The author and clinical psychologist on why self-acceptance is the key to a gay man's well-being. Arts & Culture Fashion Issue 47 A Picture of Health Xiaopeng Yuan photographs the world’s weirdest wellness cures. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Chani Nicholas and Sonya Passi Inside the astrology company on a mission to prove workplace well-being is more than a corporate tagline. Arts & Culture Issue 47 Julia Bainbridge On the life-enhancing potential of not drinking alcohol.
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