Lester Hunt posts a very funny video on how we’ve been spoiled by technology. He comments: “The other element I see here is what is sometimes called ‘the entitlement mentality,’ which says that whatever is desirable is therefore a right (at least if I am the one who wants it).”

This seems wrong. Being able to sell your internet start-up for a billion dollars and retire at 30 is desirable, but no one few of us, probably not even the guy who felt entitled to airplane internet, think it’s a right. I think the mentality is, rather, this: whatever is just within our grasp is a right.

If you’re a selfish jerk, this strategy makes rational sense: throwing a fit every time you don’t get what you want is counter-productive, because it would require to constantly throw a fit over not being able to retire at 30. But throwing a fit everything you don’t get something that’s just within your grasp could give other people the extra little motivation they need to get it for you. Of course, most spoiled brats aren’t conscious of thinking this way. But could it be a strategy we’ve evolved to use without knowing why. There’s some evidence for this in that other animals engage in similar behavior: give a monkey a treat and it will be happy, but give a monkey next door a better treat and the first monkey will throw a fit and reject the treat it would otherwise have been happy with. At least, this behavior by monkeys gives us reason to be suspicious that we can just blame our parents for making us spoiled.

What am I missing? Any other explanations?