Authors, Welcome to the Human Preference Economy

The economy is moving toward everything we’re already building

Photo by Andrew Ruiz on Unsplash.

There’s a shift in the broader economy in a direction authors should know about. First, it will make you happy. Because, secondly, it’s headed toward what authors who are building businesses around their books are already doing.

It’s called the human preference economy.

And some futurists think it’s the most likely scenario in the decades ahead: a parallel, “human preference” economy growing alongside an AI-dominated one.

What It Is

The human preference economy is the growing, measurable market preference for things made by, delivered by, and experienced with other humans; that is, authenticity, experience, and meaning as economic differentiators. People pay more for such things (your books, products, services, events), seek them out deliberately, choose them over cheaper, automated, cyberspace alternatives, and remain loyal to them longer.

Don’t interpret this as all about nostalgia, whimsy, irony, whatever — some version of electing vinyl over CDs, your granny’s china contrasting with your mid-century modern dining set.

We can consider it a rational market response — real choosing, real preferences…