Analysing the Swift-Kardashian phenomenon and the madness of crowds

As a blogger who likes to keep up with what's trending in the minds of netizens and what's popular and trendy these days, I often head over to Google Trends. And since last several months, two names have almost permanently occupied the top positions on Google Trends: Kim Kardashian and Taylor Swift!

The more I think about what makes most googlers' hearts throb for these two ladies who are just two average artists, the more I have to shake my head in disbelief. I mean we are living in dangerous COVID times, an estimated two million cases are in US alone, and there is literally no sign of a cure. Should most people really be focusing on entertainment and people like Kim Kardashian at this time?

I simply cannot believe that these two ladies are the top two trending searches on Google, either the large majority of folks have gone dumb beyond imagination, or Google's trends ranking algorithms have all gone haywire!

But then the conspiracy theorist in me has a different idea: Maybe these two ladies aren't really trending but they want everyone to think that they're trending and thus become more famous? The good old PR machinery at work which has bought the top two positions using their wealth?

And then I suddenly remember the concept of "Madness of Crowds" from my finance lessons. I mean the whole stock market thing works because the crowds are mad by nature, isn't it?

The few smart ones like George Soros or Warren Buffett can get rich only when the majority of other players is the foolish herd that is interested only in things like Kardashian instead of analyses of the companies who's stocks and bonds they own. This world view really makes sense because otherwise the top trending searches would be about something useful like personal finances and investment lessons, isn't it?