The question finally sweeps aside the curtain of glamorous success myths, training its sights directly on the cold gaze of the ordinary public observing those myths. When shown the meticulously optimized models or superhuman routines of the successful, why do some people flatly dismiss them, saying, "That has nothing to do with me," or respond with complete indifference? Are they simply lazy human beings content to stagnate in their tracks forever? Why do they refuse to study the grammar of success designed to reach higher ground?
To be brutally direct, it is not because they are lethargic creatures rejecting growth, or because they long to remain in a humble state for the rest of their lives. At the bedrock of this behavior lies a highly sophisticated defense mechanism preventing their self-esteem from being crushed by the colossal myths of others, alongside a poignant helplessness bred by an era whose ladder of mobility has been severed.
The Brain’s Defense Mechanism to Avoid Trauma: ‘Defensive Cynicism’
While the human brain can certainly be stimulated by comparing itself to others, it experiences acute psychological pain (Social Pain) when the subject of comparison drifts too far from its actual reality.
Continuously staring at a flawless model of success—the lifestyle of a wealthy elite or a conglomerate CEO armed with absolute autonomy—is, from the brain’s perspective, akin to holding a blade of self-reproach to one’s throat every morning in front of the mirror, whispering: "You are an incompetent being, withering away in task-level labor while earning a meager salary."
At this juncture, our brains activate a remarkably clever brake to safeguard our self-esteem. That brake is Cynicism. "They can only pull that off because they were born with a silver spoon," "What’s the fun in living like that anyway?" "It’s not my story, so I don’t care."
The reason they do not study success models is not because they wish to settle. It is the result of a desperately justified self-defense mechanism—a refusal to have their egos hacked to pieces by verifying their own humble realities against that glamorous mirror every single day.
‘Rational Helplessness’ in an Era of Broken Cost-Effectiveness
When the social ladder promising that "effort leads to upward mobility" is sturdy, the public struggles tooth and nail to analyze the models of the successful. They transcribe the routines of predecessors who succeeded before them like a textbook and apply them to their own lives.
However, the current generation has bitterly witnessed the structural limitations of reality: that no matter how much they optimize their lives and grind their souls away, buying a single apartment in Seoul remains nearly impossible. Here, the brain begins to run a cold, calculating cost-benefit analysis.
The cognitive energy (Cost) required to study the models of the successful and optimize one’s life through bone-carving effort is astronomical. But what if the future reward (Return) to be gained through such effort is entirely uncertain or laughably low?
The brain flags that effort as a "cost-ineffective, irrational act" and grinds to a halt. In short, the indifference of ordinary people is not a symptom of stupidity or laziness; it is an expression of an intensely rational yet sorrowful helplessness (Learned Helplessness)—a refusal to waste any more energy on futile hopes in a world where the ladder is broken.
Choosing ‘Ordinariness’ as a New Survival Strategy
While the older generation was taught that success and leaping forward were the sole correct answers to life, the wise new humans of today have seen through the deception: the cost to be paid for success is entirely too expensive.
They have established a new value system dictating that an "ordinary life"—working moderately, safeguarding one’s daily routine, and enjoying small pleasures—yields far better cost-effectiveness than the life of the top 1% elite, which is barely clutched at the price of working 80 hours a week, severing human relationships, and suffering from hair loss and panic disorders.
To them, the optimized models of the successful are not objects of envy; they are merely a bizarre lifestyle that makes them think, "I have no desire to bleed that much just to live." Their attempt to maintain the status quo is not a sign of weakness, but a 주체적 (autonomous) choice of their own clever survival strategy called "sustainable ordinariness" before excessive ambition drives them to ruin.
Exercising a Sophisticated Veto Against Forced Myths
Beginning with health textbooks, passing through success and addiction, and finally reaching the inner realities of the public who look away from the myths of others, we have at last arrived at the most human destination of this narrative.
The nonchalant phrase, "That’s not my story, so I don’t care," is actually the most sophisticated exercise of veto power that ordinary people hurl toward a capitalist society that enforces success as the sole metric of value. It is not a resignation to settle within one’s lot, but an existential declaration that one refuses to squander their precious daily routine today by being swayed by the colossal myths of others.
No one has the right to criticize another simply because they do not study the grammar of success. Not everyone can ride in first class, nor does everyone need to listen to classical music in a packed subway.
Rather than tearing oneself apart trying to chase the glamorous trajectories of others, breathing at one’s own pace under the light of a tiny bedroom, safely enduring today—that resilient will to survive hidden behind indifference and cynicism is, after all, the cleverest and most moving public health answer we have chosen to protect ourselves in this mad, meritocratic world.
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