



R ecognition or personal brand has become more particular and prominent these days. Everybody wants to get a name for themselves, and rightly so it is important. Let me give you an overview of what, I think, has turned out to be a personal brand. Let us assume that I was one out of the several humans living 12000 years ago. And let's also say I am the leader of a small Tribe (the preceding statement that I've made doesn't have any significance for the write-up though). This era predominantly belongs to hunter-gatherers (hunting for wild prey and gathering edibles from forests). I became the leader of the group because I was more competent and also stronger (both physically and mentally). These factors were important because there is nothing more for the primitive hunter-gatherer than having some food and protection. Others may try to emulate my personality, which is always good for the Tribe because it makes the Tribe more efficient(though we never got to talk about this then, for we have no language to blabber back then).





Image from: https://www.pinterest.ca/pin/369647081888994691/









Let's move on. I don't believe in rebirth, but let's say I do in the context of helping my narrative. And I think you didn't forget that I was the leader of the pack of hunter-gatherers not because it helps the narrative (because I can!). So this leader guy (me) was bestowed upon a rebirth and tried to continue his saga as packman(pun intended). This time it was we chiefs, around A.D.1300, who were made in charge of 'small groups of people' bigger than tribes called chiefdoms. Then the idea of writing came along to join the forces of progress. Till the advent of writing, the main way of gaining respect or recognition was through physical and mental capability of that particular person. The societies where writing got injected were predominantly non-hunter-gatherer communities or chiefdoms as Hunter-gatherers were either uninterested or too busy with their livelihood to concentrate on 'seemingly small discovery' called writing. Therefore writing was established in societies where there are signs of bureaucracy.





That's the chief in the middle. image from: http://peterturchin.com/cliodynamica/the-splendor-and-mystery-of-the-mississippian-civilization/







Writing changed the vibe of personal recognition. Let me give an explanation for my conclusion. Writing being available for chiefdoms, it was mostly with the elites. Elites were the ones who got the chance to truly exploit the power of writing. I have a theory that writing was only with bureaucrats because people were too invested in farming and other things , that they were never into the painstaking and recreational writing. This concept of literature made bureaucrats like me all the more powerful as they know how to retain, manipulate and rewrite information. This gave us the immense power of control. This control, I think, is one of the first glorifying steps toward branding people and institutions. Once the power went into the hands of few people like us bureaucrats, we were seen as little higher than the rest. This made the general public strive to become better(which is always good). If they couldn't they will start ' enacting and materializing' what the bureaucrats have.













Let's say many bureaucrats like me were dead because of the widespread diseases at that age due to the domestication of wild cattle(Topic for another day). Okay, Now you know the drill, The saga of rebirth continues and now I am a 20th-century corporate tycoon. So, This tycoon guy(me) starts a shoe company where he makes shoes known for their intricate design and finesse but costs more than an average person sanely wants to spend on a shoe. But there is always this one guy in the college who is practically not so sane in the area of shoe purchase and sees his idol wear the shoe and he buys them to show off to his peers. Then this 'wall of jealousy' begins to build around him (stronger than trump's). This makes other regular guys to get those kinds of expensive shoes leading to extreme consumerism and materialism. I, being the tycoon, felt nothing less than eternal bliss of happiness with my profits. This is when I think there is a trickle-down effect where the 'recognition or personal brand' for the general public has become more visual than intellectual.



Let me give you an example, people with money are capable of buying expensive things because they wanted to show that they have more money. This desire for flaunting money became a reality because of corporations and brands. I have nothing to say if it is the decision of a rich individual to flaunt their cash. The rich try to show their worth by wearing those expensive shoes and living in expensive houses. To the general public(who can't buy a boat for his son on his first birthday) this gives a wrong sense of what personal brand or recognition means. This gives the general public a false chance to show off what they do not have. And also another problem with this is that it is materialistic and does not last. Being the owner of an expensive shoe company this kind of toxicity helped me to grow the green in my bank. But nothing can be compared to the way 21st century escalated this trend of material recognition.