What Shouldn’t Exist Anymore? Press DELETE.

Have you ever had that moment where something is clearly insane, but everyone’s acting like it’s normal?

A process that requires three processes. A queue that leads to another queue. A chatbot that politely explains it can’t help, but hopes you have a lovely day.

Modern life is full of this: entire systems we keep paying for and performing, not because they work, but because they’re the default. The background noise of adulthood.

Socrates’ basic trick was simple: take the thing everyone assumes is normal, and ask “but why?” until it collapses or improves. That’s what we’re doing tonight.

Not people. Not politics. Systems. The big “surely this can’t be necessary” ones. To make the case that some things need deleting.

How It Works

1. Pick Your Poison
   You’ll join one of four tables (listed below).
   Your table chooses one target to prosecute: the case for why it shouldn’t exist anymore — or should be ruthlessly redesigned.

2. Build the Case
   Use this format:
   • What’s the promise?
   • What’s the reality?
   • Why does it survive?
   • Who benefits?
   • What would replace it, if anything?

3. Pitch It
   Deliver a short, sharp takedown to the whole group. Be bold. Be funny. Mercy is optional. Deleting is essential.

4. Steelman → Attack → Synthesis
   The room strengthens your case, then flips to take it apart, then we synthesise: is it truly obsolete — or solving a real coordination problem badly?

5. Redemption Round
   Each table nominates one thing worth keeping. What survives the purge — and why?

Table Options (choose on arrival)
Table 1: Marriage • Banking & financial products • Advertising • Corporate sustainability/greenwashing • Customer service automation

Table 2: University education • Performance reviews • Fast fashion • Policing • News media

Table 3: Social media • Insurance • Travel & tourism • The legal system • The modern food industry

Table 4: Bureaucracy • Subscription economy • Urban car dependency • Therapy/mental health culture • Luxury/status goods

Whole Group Discussion Questions
• Would we invent this today if it didn’t already exist?
• When does “imperfect but useful” become “net negative but untouchable”?
• Is the problem the institution — or the incentives underneath it?
• What, if anything, still deserves our trust?

Optional Reading

• Status quo bias — why we stick with the default even when it’s worse (The Decision Lab): https://thedecisionlab.com/biases/status-quo-bias

• Path dependence — why outdated systems become hard to change (APM blog): https://www.apm.org.uk/blog/path-dependence-and-why-it-is-critical-for-project-success/

• Conspicuous consumption — why status goods beat usefulness (Investopedia): https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/conspicuous-consumption.asp