Electric Vehicles: Hype Or Hope?
Where do Electric Vehicles make sense, and where are they just a foolish waste of money?
We humans are herd animals and often rush without thinking to embrace whatever new trend is being hyped around us. If we see other people sporting tattoos in order to be “individual” we naturally get some tattoos in order to be individual just like them. If we hear that investing in crypto-currencies is a sure-fire can’t-lose way to riches and everyone we know is putting money into HypeCoin then of course we likewise stock up on as much HypeCoin as we can manage. Because, hey, if everyone else is doing it then it must be the right and totally safe thing to do!
Regardless of occupation, our hardwired tendency to want to fit in with group norms combined with our equally evolved desire to avoid attempting to think whenever possible, means that we reliably do things that a little contemplation would likely reveal to be sub-optimal or even downright delusional. Fortunately for those who thrive on generating hype, however, the vast majority of people simply embrace whatever they believe to be the Next Big Thing. This is why venture capitalists and investment bankers throw billions of dollars at “hot” startups in one particular sector when that sector is supposedly the Next Big Thing, even though of course if fifty…
