The pervasive cognitive paradigm where market logic—cost-benefit analysis, efficiency metrics, monetization potential, and competitive advantage—becomes the default, and often only, framework for evaluating everything. In groups dominated by Marketothinking, social relationships, artistic endeavors, education, healthcare, and even personal decisions are reframed as transactions. Alternative values like compassion, beauty, justice, or community are dismissed as "sentimental" or "inefficient." This groupthink is endemic in corporate boards, business schools, and neoliberal policy circles, creating a collective blind spot to the value of anything that can't be priced.
Example: A city council discussing the closure of a public park is steeped in Marketothinking. The only metrics debated are property tax revenue from potential development, maintenance costs, and "footfall efficiency." Proposals for the park's intrinsic community, mental health, or ecological value are dismissed as "unquantifiable." The group's shared mental model cannot compute worth outside a balance sheet, ensuring a foregone conclusion.
by Dumuabzu February 5, 2026
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