If you’d asked if the market for urban singles looking to date might be organized simply with the swipe of a finger in 2010, most people would disbelievingly have shaken their heads—and with great conviction. But just how much the World has changed since then is evident from a look at the numbers alone. More than half of American couples who married in 2024 met on a dating app. Naturally, this shift has serious implications, one of which is evident in the observation that a decisive bottleneck for young men lies in their inability to make a lasting impression in a photograph. Consequently, what is ominously labeled the Attention Economy has become a highly personal, even intimate matter—an issue that, for Orion Taraban, a San Francisco-based psychologist who treats young men, isn’t merely a daily practice but has led him to understand the Dating Market as a form of Economy.

Orion Taraban is a truly unusual figure in his field, having specialized in coaching a large cohort of young men in the art of having a successful and fulfilling life—and sharing his insights with a large audience through his highly successful PsycHacks YouTube channel. And because he’s a product of his time, Taraban isn’t just available for personal conversations—he can also be experienced as an Avatar—an AI entity that carries his voice and thoughts and can serve his clients 24/7.

Orion Taraban has published

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