Marketing and Mind Control

How the emotional parts of our brains can be manipulated

By Wray Herbert
Source : Newsweek

Imagine that I have $100 and I offer you $20 of it, no strings attached. You'd take it, right? Any fool would; it's a windfall. But imagine further that you know I must give away part of my $100 or lose it all. All of a sudden my motives aren't entirely altruistic, but I'm still offering you free money. Take it or leave it, but no negotiation allowed. How would you feel? What would you do?

If you were like a lot of people who have answered these questions in a psychological experiment over the years, you would now feel conflicted. Many of these people actually walked away from the deal, even though it would have meant a no-strings-attached twenty bucks in their pockets. Why? Because the arrangement is fundamentally unfair, and once you know this your basic sense of moral indignation clicks in. Your emotions and principles trump your pure rationality.

Psychologists have demonstrated this in the laboratory, time and time again. It's known as the Ultimatum Game, and its counterintuitive findings are part of a broad new understanding of how the human brain and mind work. As it turns out, we are not very reasonable creatures much of the time, nor are we very aware. Indeed, we are under constant sway of our emotions and intuitions, and most of the time we are not even aware of just how quirky and emotional our everyday decisions are.

Consider another experiment from the emerging field of social neuroscience. Psychologist John Bargh flashed words in front of volunteers, but so rapidly that they did not register in the conscious mind. Some of the words had to do with rudeness (like impolite and obnoxious) while others were the opposite (respect, considerate). The volunteers were later put in a simulated situation in which they could be civil toward one another—or not. Many who had seen the words associated with rudeness were not. Two-thirds of the volunteers who had been primed with rudeness words interrupted another person afterward, compared to only 16 percent of those primed with politeness words.


I don't know about you, but I find this very sobering. It seems Bargh was able to make human beings behave politely or rudely, and without all that much effort, simply by fiddling with the automatic, emotional parts of their brain. What does this say about our autonomy, our free will? This is the basic question raised by neurologist Richard Restak in his new, somewhat dystopian book, "The Naked Brain," published late last month by Harmony Books. It's worth reading, both as a solid primer on a fascinating new psychological science and as a warning about the potential misuse of brain science for nefarious purposes.

The power of our emotional brain is not a good thing or a bad thing entirely. It depends on the situation. It's probably good that our righteous moral indignation clicks on automatically sometimes; our personal finances may suffer a bit, but we're better people for it. But how about other fast, automatic emotions, like fear? Cognitive psychologist Michael Gazzaniga has done many experiments with patients who, for medical reasons, have had their brains' hemispheres disconnected. This means that the left hemisphere, in charge of language, isn't communicating with the right hemisphere. Using distressing pictures and words, Gazzaniga in effect creates negative emotion in the brain's right hemisphere, out of conscious awareness. The subjects experience the emotion, but they don't understand it, so the rational left hemisphere attempts to interpret the mysterious emotion, and it sometimes makes mistakes. So an unexplained dip in mood or a sensation of discomfort might be wrongly attributed to, say, a spouse's selfishness or even infidelity—with untoward consequences.

One of the most fascinating and potentially alarming findings to come out of social neuroscience has to do with specialized brain cells called "mirror neurons." Mirror neurons closely intertwine emotion with movement. They are what make you smile when a baby smiles, or make me grimace when I see you in pain. And the physical act of smiling or grimacing unleashes emotions of joy or suffering. In short, mirror neurons are the neurological foundation of empathy, which is a building block of compassion. But as Restak explains, such a potent connection between two brains could have a flip side: It means that all I have to do to manipulate your mind is to get your attention.

Marketers and politicians are already familiar with these advances in brain science, and are using this knowledge to control our behavior. Or at least they are trying to do so. Advertisements are deliberately designed to target the emotional brain and create bonds, even cravings (one of our basest and most powerful emotional drives). Extensive research shows that our brains have certain hardwired propensities that might be exploited. For example, our brains tend to register frequently heard facts as true, even if they are patently false. As a result, our memories and beliefs are highly malleable and unreliable. We also tend, if unchecked by the conscious reasoning mind, to focus overly on risk, inconvenience, hassles—anything negative. And researchers have found that we all carry around an innate hostility toward "otherness," which means anyone not like us.

These hardwired traits are difficult to shake, in part because they were adaptive when our early ancestors were evolving on the savannahs and have been reinforced ever since. But they are clearly no longer adaptive, and indeed make us vulnerable to all sorts of subtle conditioning. Should we be worried? In the final analysis, Restak does not believe that brain science has advanced far enough yet to give marketers any persuasive powers they didn't have already. Despite remarkable progress in understanding the brain's anatomy and biochemistry, the organ is far too complex an array of interconnected circuits to be that easily manipulated with simple subliminal stimuli. Advertisers may be disappointed to hear it, but there is no "Buy now!" switch hidden among the neurons and synapses.

That strikes me as a reasoned conclusion, just what one would expect from a deliberative scientific mind systematically weighing the available facts. So why do I have this nagging, unexplained sense of foreboding coming from some recess in my brain?

This is how i motivate myself :-)

Quote of the Day

"The enemy is anybody who's going to get you killed, no matter which side he's on."
- Joseph Heller

Mood : Every Time I Look at You - Kiss

Tryin’ to say I’m sorry, didn’t mean to break your heart
And find you waitin’ up by the light of day
There’s a lot I want to tell you, but I don’t know where to start
And I don’t know what I’d do if you walked away

Ooh, baby I tried to make it, I just got lost along the way

But every time I look at you, no matter what I’m goin’ thru, it’s easy to see
And every time I hold you, the things I never told you, seem to come easily
’cause you’re everything to me

I never really wanted to let you get inside my heart
I wanted to believe this would soon be ending
I thought it wouldn’t matter, if it all just came apart
But now I realize I was just pretending

Ooh, baby, I know I hurt you, but you can still believe in me

It’s gonna take a little time to show you, just what you mean to me, oh yeah
It seems the more I get to know you, the more I need to make you see
You’re everything I need, yeah

Oho, I need ya, I need ya, I need ya...

Ooh, baby, baby, baby, I know I hurt you, but you can still believe in me

You’re everything to me, you’re everything to me

Valentine's Day Party

We had been to a place called Flat Top Grill, it is a create your own stir-fry restaurant. You can choose from variety of fresh fruits and veggies, a selection of rice and noodles and signature homemade sauces. They also have Asian inspired appetizers, homemade desserts, and a full bar. The ambience was good and we all had a great time.

Mood : Comfortably Numb - Pink Floyd

Hello?
Is there anybody in there?
Just nod if you can hear me.
Is there anyone home?
Come on, now.
I hear you're feeling down.
Well I can ease your pain,
Get you on your feet again.
Relax.
I need some information first.
Just the basic facts,
Can you show me where it hurts?
There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'.
When I was a child I had a fever.
My hands felt just like two balloons.
Now I got that feeling once again.
I can't explain, you would not understand.
This is not how I am.
I have become comfortably numb.
Ok.
Just a little pinprick.
There'll be no more ...Aaaaaahhhhh!
But you may feel a little sick.
Can you stand up?
I do believe it's working. Good.
That'll keep you going for the show.
Come on it's time to go.
There is no pain, you are receding.
A distant ship's smoke on the horizon.
You are only coming through in waves.
Your lips move but I can't hear what you're sayin'.
When I was a child I caught a fleeting glimpse,
Out of the corner of my eye.
I turned to look but it was gone.
I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb.

Decision

There are certain stage in a person's life, when we have to take a decision for good or for bad. Coz if we don't then we aggravate the problem. That time has come for me.

Thought of the Day

If you feel like doing some work,
Sit down and wait…
Until that feeling goes away…

-Calvin & Hobbes

Reality continues to ruin my life
-Calvin & Hobbes

Horoscope or Horror-scope

I just now read my weekly horoscope, it does not sound good.........., but hell with it. I pray from the bottom of my heart that it turns out completely wrong.

Its a Brand New Chapter

I want to remember 31 January, 2006 as a beginning of a brand new chapter in my life. A chapter which is a very important and filled with ups and downs. But the courage lies in facing all those.

The Beauty of life lies in the journey and not in its destination.

Time will decide the fate.

Engine is warming up

Things are heating up!!! Classes are in full swing, assignments, part-time work and to top it all time to party. Its going to be one hell of a year. Hope I come out in A's in all of them.

Americanism

I had heard lot about the American culture from TV, newspaper and from my friend's. But after experiencing first hand, there are few things which i strongly agree,

It is one of the most open society; people from every part to the world come and live here. What unites all of them is the desire to suceed to achive what they believe in life.

However, its not true that i like every thing about US. But what the heck!!!!! When you feel something is good then we need to appreciate it. We need to learn to say a spade is a spade.

Quote

America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.

-Evan Esar (1899 - 1995)

Hope

The only predictable thing about life is it's unpredictability. When you start feeling cozy, suddenly the weather turns rough. I say, let me take you head on.

In this life you could lead if you only believe
And in order to achieve what you need
You can never give up
You can never give up

And this hope
That keep me holding on
On and on
And this hope
That makes me carry on
On and on

Courtesy: Shaggy
Song: Hope

Believe it or Not

Some frekin guys in Mexico had dug up a tunnel from the Mexican border into US. It was supposedly used for drug smuggling. The news report read, "The tunnel runs 2,400 feet through sandstone and compacted sand and is equipped with lighting, ventilation and groundwater drainage systems."

The first thing that comes to my mind is, Genius!!!!

One more place to hang out

Scientists have discovered a planet more like Earth than any other found before. This groundbreaking discovery of planet takes the nondescript name "OGLE-2005-BLG-390" after one such telescope, named OGLE, for Optical Gravitational Lensing Experiment.

It's 20,000 light-years away, just shy of the center of the Milky Way. The planet is five times the mass of Earth, but it's still considered the smallest and coolest ever detected outside of the solar system, according to the scientists.

Scientists also predict it has a thin atmosphere, like Earth, with a rocky surface buried deep under frozen oceans. These characteristics would make it a larger version of Pluto, rather than the rocky inner solar planets like Earth and Venus.

Yesterday i watched an episode of the Friend's sitcom. My roomie has a DVD of all episodes of each season. I don't remember how many times i have watched this cult status sitcom, yet i enjoy every minute of it when i watch again. Hail the friendship !!!!

Finally.............

Navy Pier

I had been to Navy Pier in Chicago the previous weekend, its a nice place to go around. It's a large pier on Lake Michigan near Streeterville, close to Chicago's downtown. The pier is designed as a shipping and entertainment area.

Originally known as the Municipal Pier nr 2, it is one of two piers called for in Daniel Burnham's 1909 Chicago plan. The other pier was never built.

Chicago Skyline

Motto

Bangalore or Bengaluru????

I'm an hardcore bangalorean and kannadiga by heart. Yet, I'm still not convinced by the idea to rename Bangalore as Bengalooru. I don't understand the logic or the intension behind this decision. Can a name help to change the perception about the city? Will it do any good to the local inhabitants? or its just a publicity stunt? Time will tell.........

Mood

I tried so hard
And got so far
But in the end
It doesn't even matter
I had to fall
To lose it all
But in the end
It doesn't even matter

I've put my trust in you
Pushed as far as I can go
And for all this
There's only one thing you should know

Courtesy : Linkin Park

:-) :-( ???? !!!!!!

Its been quite a long time; almost an year, since I last updated my blog. The sudden decision to revisit my blog was triggered by the desire to express my volatile thoughts.

There are lot of things in this life that we overlook and repent later on. Stuck up with our daily chores, we tend to forget to cherish and value what we have; friends, family and just the beauty of life.

It has been a conscience decision to quit my work and take up further studies. When I look back I'm not sure if the decision was based on the desperation to get out of monotonous life style or the desire to achieve something valuable in life. But life is a one hell of a journey with no return ticket, so the best option will be to move on.

Twenty four days is a very short period in a person's life time, under normal circumstances, but this duration that I have spent in Chicago has been one to remember for lifetime. The mood has been oscillating from happiness to sadness, depression to excitement, hate to love and to what not....