Great article, Barry – thanks for sharing!

I agree that these five desires are widespread and indeed troublesome. And I find my younger self in this list very well.

But knowing about these desires keeps us aware that others can exploit them. Thanks for highlighting this.

As I read your article, I remembered a classic by Robert Cialdini “Influence”. He writes about different ways of how others can exploit evolutionary shortcomings of our psyche: the desire for social proof, reciprocation, etc.