Questioning Necessity and Desire

Sor Juana's intellectual method involved relentless questioning—of assumptions, authorities, and received wisdom. She applied this to theology, philosophy, and politics. We can apply the same method to consumption: Do I genuinely need this, or have I been conditioned to desire it? Marketing industries spend billions engineering desire, creating artificial needs to drive consumption. They exploit psychological vulnerabilities, social anxieties, and identity insecurities. Ethical consumption requires thinking like Sor Juana—questioning the narratives fed to us, distinguishing between authentic needs and manufactured wants. Why do I feel I need the newest phone? What social pressure drives this desire? Would buying secondhand serve the same function? Could I borrow instead? This isn't ascetic rejection of pleasure but honest interrogation of desire itself. Sor Juana loved beauty and learning; she wasn't advocating deprivation. Rather, she insisted we examine our choices consciously rather than accept them unconsciously. When we question desire instead of accepting it as given, we reclaim mental space colonized by consumer culture and redirect resources toward what genuinely matters to us and others.