A timely topic, to be sure, Bob. Less is more. One of my early 'virtual' mentors was German-born English economist E.F. Schumacher, whose seminal 1973 landmark book 'Small Is Beautiful: Economics as if People Mattered', addressed this syndrome of acquisitive materialistic superfluity in a stunningly insightful manner. I was an impressionable student at Berkeley at the time and it, along with my discovery of philosopher Ivan Illich's brilliant works, set important guideposts to steer my life by, back then (and still do).

Interestingly, much of what both of the above referenced (in respect to Western materialism) is reflected in certain ancient schools of Asian philosophy, and applications of 'less is more, simple is preferable' are integral to traditional Japanese culture (prior, that is, to the malignant spread and emulation of Western style, materialist consumerism).

Unfortunately, despite my early insights into these basics of human economics, as a (per western astrology) Gemini (LoL), I seem to be half-possessed by an embrace of minimalism and equally half-captured by a fascination with tech. Thus part of me desperately wants to be a Buddhist monk, sitting high up on the flanks of a misty mountain. contemplating Cosmic emptiness, and the other half wants to know as much as possible about the latest scientific advances in applied technology. My life has therefore always been a battle between two conflicting poles; on one shoulder sits the angel whispering in a soft little voice, admonishing me to minimise...on the other the devil urges me to immerse myself in tech, in an unrelentingly strident voice.

At the moment, the angel commands my full attention, but as we all know, in the passions and confusions that attend warfare (whether actual or allegorical), the tide of battle can (and often does) change in a heartbeat...

Thanks for providing us with some fascinating pause for meaningful reflections, Bob.