If I'm correct, the release of a new version of a popular gadget, like the iPhone, causes a stir among would-be buyers and I've heard that people line up outside stores in long queues days before the actual release of the new model.

Is there an explanation for this behavior? The essential difference between an old phone, even if working well, and a new phone is that the new one is, in technological parlance, updated: it's OS can handle new apps, better cameras, increased user-friendliness, etc. So, the compulsion to buy the latest version of the iPhone is simply the belief that it has features that are more able to cope with the technological environment which presumably changes on a yearly basis. In effect this behavior of compulsive buying of the latest model of gadgets has psychological underpinnings; the need to update oneself to keep pace with technology.


Setting aside the issue that the idea of updating technology maybe nothing more than a marketing gimmick let's at least appreciate the fact that the psychological drive to give up the old for the new is real and active in the world's population for a good reason: the old loses its relevance.

Now contrast what I said above with what can be spoken of as ancient wisdom: the collective body of knowledge of our forefathers. While I won't go so far as to say that all ancient wisdom is irrelevant to the modern world, there are some old ideas that have persisted despite being completely at odds with recent discoveries. I'm particularly concerned about religion and how resistant it is to being "updated". All the major religions have retained their original form with almost zero alterations and that too despite countless generations of humans experiencing radical changes in their lives and minds. Now, I'm fairly sure that the urge to buy the new updated iPhone is not at all alien to the imams, rabbis, priests, lamas, shamans, or other religious figures in the modern world. Yet these same religious folks, despite facts (science mainly) clearly demonstrating the errors of their religious doctrines, insist on clinging to ancient beliefs that are zealously guarded from anyone who may wish to alter them to suit the modern world.