Description

Product Overview

“Is your desire truly yours, or was it manufactured to keep the machine running?” In Curved Truths, Manufactured Yearning, author Jinseong Min (Mola Mola) deconstructs the fundamental premise of modern economics: that human desire is infinite. Min proposes a provocative counter-argument—that our desires are not an endless abyss by nature, but a “mandatory specification” imposed by a system that would collapse if we ever felt truly satisfied.

From the “architects of invented lack” in marketing to the “outdated tag of sincerity” in the job market, this book traces the invisible chains that bind the modern individual. It is a profound exploration of how we became “the newly poor” in an era of skyrocketing asset values and why society continues to demand predictability under the guise of moral virtue.

Key Features & Themes

• The Myth of Infinite Desire: An analysis of how capitalism injects a sense of deficiency into our lives to ensure its own survival.

• On a Bicycle That Crashes if It Stops: Why the global economy is addicted to perpetual growth and the cost of this addiction to the human psyche.

• The Architects of Invented Lack: How suppliers and data analysts redefine our sufficient lives as “insufficient” through sophisticated psychological triggers.

• Sincerity as Predictability: A radical critique of “sincerity” not as a moral ability, but as a tool for cost reduction and management in large organizations.

• The Era of the ‘Newly Poor’: Understanding the despair of those who believed in the virtue of labor while the paradigm of wealth shifted overnight.

Detailed Description

“The moment we feel satisfied, the machine grinds to a halt.”

Curved Truths, Manufactured Yearning is a vital roadmap for those seeking to understand the structural forces shaping their anxieties and ambitions in 2026. Jinseong Min bridges the gap between economic theory and existential reality, revealing the “invisible chains” that have replaced the iron shackles of the past.

The book explores three critical dimensions of modern subjugation:

1. Manufacturing Deficiency: How the system transforms our baseline reality into a state of constant “not enough,” making us voluntary participants in our own exhaustion.

2. The Sincerity Trap: Why the job market still demands the “lowest threshold” of sincerity—predictability—even as the value of traditional labor hits rock bottom.

3. Breaking the Paradigm: A call to recognize the “intentional sampling” of our environments and algorithms, and to seek a life that isn’t defined by manufactured yearning.

This work is indispensable for social critics, students of economics, and anyone who feels the suffocating weight of a world that demands more, faster, and forever.

Product Specifications

• Author: Jinseong Min (Mola Mola)

• Publication Year: 2026

• Language: English

• Genre: Economics / Social Critique / Philosophy / Political Science

• Ideal for: Readers interested in anti-consumerism, critical economic theory, and the psychological impact of modern capitalism.