May 09, 2006
Junk Food = Good Times, 6 Pack Abs, and Friendship!
Through "associative learning" we learn many useful things.
For example, we may observe that people with pleasant personalities have more friends than those who are bitter and negative. We see these two things together (an "association" between being pleasant and having friends) and we learn a useful principle. We make hundreds of these associations a day without knowing it.
These are useful.
Some people (marketers, politicians, demagogues), however, create false associations in your mind for profit. In fact, they are taught to create these associations purely for their persuasion-impact without any regard for the impact on the psyche of the recipient.
For example:
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click here to see cartoon |
Do you think you might have a few of these lies floating around in your mind now?
There is much to be gained by rooting these out and replacing them with truer, and healthier, associations. It's not illegal to advertise in this way yet, so you'll have to learn to do this on your own.
Be vigilant! The effect is eye-opening and liberating.
I'll show you another dirty trick and it's antidote tomorrow.