The flickering light of the screen diluted the semi-darkness of the assembly hall. A bright dot of light shot from a projector and sprayed over a wide area of the wall. A man in a white coat stood next to the blurry image, nervously fiddling with a fountain pen in his palms. Opposite him in soft luxurious armchairs were several people - the heads of transnational corporations. The young scientist waved his hand to his assistant - the inscription "Education of a consumer" lit up on the white screen, and the speaker timidly said:
- Comrades … - one of those sitting in the hall threw a sizzling glance at him, and he hesitated, then continued, - Gentlemen! I would like to present you a methodology for educating a human consumer as a new biological species. Biological species Homo sapiens is not at all suitable for our purposes: in the conditions of the modern constant increase in the volume of production of goods, such an individual is a kind of economic corpse, which is difficult to force to uncontrollably consume goods and services.
- We are listening carefully! - answered a cold voice from the hall, and there was silence.
- Gentlemen! We came to the conclusion that it is too late to re-educate a conscious, adult person with a formed worldview. This, of course, is possible, but many times more difficult. Therefore, we will consider that the generation of Soviet people is useless for our purposes. They have a different paradigm of values. The worldview of most of them defies correction.
- Dear! Have you gathered us in order to upset? We are not paying you that kind of money for that! Do you want the whole state to go back to your godforsaken research institute and drag out a miserable existence there !? - An angry voice came from the audience.
- A moment of patience, gentlemen! - the scientist said with obvious excitement. - Now I'll explain everything. So, it is more difficult to work with the adult generation, and in some cases it is useless. Therefore, we came to the conclusion that our target audience is children and adolescents. Children have such a feature as mindless copying of adult behavior patterns - it is characteristic of all biological species that exist on the planet. This is necessary for survival, so that the cub quickly adopts habits that will be useful to him in life. And we will put this biological feature at our service, - the scientist finished and looked around the audience with a smug look.
- Well, well … Go on, - came from the audience.
- We came to the conclusion that the same thing happens with the cubs of a female human: they literally absorb everything that the environment offers them. We have collected statistics: in school essays of the late 90s - early 2000s, almost all girls wrote that they would dream of becoming a pop star or model, and some students and the profession of a prostitute were considered acceptable. In turn, the boys were attracted by the image of tough bandits. And this is all - the consequences of films like "Brigade", "Pretty Woman", clips of Madonna and other regulars on the MTV air, and in general, the general destructive paradigm of values rushed into society.
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- Yes, yes, I remember how much we paid for this "Brigade". It was a good film, the audience heard.
- Good ?! Did you also watch it? - sounded in response.
- God forbid! I just saw what was happening to the youth after he came out on the screens, - the first voice laughed.
- Gentlemen, let's not be distracted. Time goes forward, and we need to keep up with it. If earlier you relied on adolescents, and this brought certain benefits, then modern technologies allow you to wedge into the system of raising children from birth or at the very early stages, when the baby's psyche is most receptive.
- Since birth, it still does not work, - came a disgruntled remark from the audience, - the process of advancing juvenile justice is proceeding with great creak. People don't want to defend the "rights of the child," which is very upsetting.
- Of course, you came up with a good idea with the “rights of children”, but in any case, juvenile technologies are a forward movement. This is direct aggression that triggers a backlash. And judging by the active opposition, society is not yet ready to yield in this direction. But there are other methods. More subtle. There is no need to break into families and take away children - we need to help families. We must be kinder to people … For example, what do modern parents dream of?
- About silence and rest. After 12 hours spent at work and on the road, they dream of relaxing and being in silence.
- Exactly. And this is exactly what we can give them by betting on entertaining content for children. After all, not only adults like to immerse themselves in the virtual world. Children are our future, and we can start educating this future today. And here I see two important directions in our work. First, to create a huge stream of entertainment media film products for children. And secondly, to convince parents that all kinds of gadgets and televisions can become their child's friend from a very young age.
- Tell us more about each of the directions, - business notes clearly sounded in the voice from the darkness.
- Regarding the information flow, the situation here is simple. Now we have only one TV channel for children, and we need to make several. People love when there is a choice, and we must provide it to them, including in this matter. Although, of course, they will have no choice here (as, indeed, always) will not … - the scientist grinned maliciously. - We will serve the same destructive content under different wrappers. In this case, the TV should become the same integral attribute of the children's room as curtains or toys. Let cartoons be broadcast around the clock! But they need to be shown interspersed: at one moment - content for the little ones, and after 5 minutes - already 6+ or even 12+. Adults will not constantly run to the child and switch channels, sit quietly in the room, do not dangle under their feet - that's great! Mom has time to take care of herself!
- What cartoons do you propose to produce?
- We need to focus on cartoons, such products become addictive and addictive much faster. At the same time, a lot of cartoons are needed, and let their production be cheap and conveyor belt, in order to immediately kill the aesthetic perception of the world, making it stereotyped and of the same type.
“I like your financial approach,” a business voice sounded out of the darkness again, “but won't this discourage the children themselves from watching?
- If you know some of the secrets of attracting and retaining attention, it will not repulse. And these secrets can be borrowed from advertising. First of all, these are bright acid colors and clip-like. Let the frame and shot rates change at the same speed as modern music videos. This will allow from childhood to form real consumers who will get used to mindlessly absorbing information. We are talking about the so-called "clip thinking", when a person is simply not able to see beyond his nose and track the cause-and-effect relationships of ongoing events and information entering the subconscious. If the frame changes every 2-3 seconds, then the child is physically unable to comprehend what is happening on the screen. And children will get used to watching TV and NOT THINKING. Years will pass and … what could be better,than an adult with no critical thinking at all! This is the ideal human consumer, into whom you can upload any information, and who will not even realize how he is being manipulated!
- It was smooth on paper - but they forgot about the ravines, - someone from the audience cooled the enthusiastic intonations of the scientist. - Aren't you afraid that parents will decide to protect children from such products?
“Don't worry about your parents. They just want them to have time to do their own things, and so they will hook on any justifications we give them. By the way, I already have a few ideas. Firstly, in cartoons it is advisable to use some folk images: for example, take “Three heroes” or heroes from the tale about “Masha and the Bear”. So that parents think that through such cartoons they teach their children to something dear, close and good. And be sure to add humor. There should be a lot of it, you can even stuff children's products with adult jokes, so that when they watch together, dad and mom can laugh heartily. Humor is the perfect weapon. After all, what is funny cannot be dangerous in the perception of the viewer.
- We need not make our wards laugh, but educate them in the right way.
- Well, I’m talking about education, I’m just suggesting a more effective form of presentation! For example, make the main character of an animated series insensitive, so that she knows neither love, nor compassion, nor pain. Let her only have fun and amuse herself, mocking the elders - how do you like this idea? And make the heroes of another animated series fit, so that they constantly jump on their backs and laugh? And still others, from morning till night, think about parties or discuss relationships with the opposite sex. Yes, what I'm teaching you - here you know everything better than me! - not a trace of the young scientist's uncertainty remained. He felt that he had finally found a common language with the mysterious audience and began to control the situation.
"Yes … not bad, not bad," came the praise from the audience.
- Listen, how are you there … - a second voice was heard.
- Anatoly Petro …
- It doesn't matter, in general, - interrupted the speaker from the audience, - but what about the experts who will definitely start talking about the health risks of sitting in front of screens?
“But don't worry about that,” a quiet but imperious voice sounded from the far corner of the room, “leave this problem to me. Experts can say whatever they want, but every major media outlet has its own set of experts and opinion leaders who only voice the “correct theses”. And we will prepare a list of necessary arguments in the near future.
- Let me help you in this matter, Mr. Ivan I …
- No need for names, - a sharp remark interrupted the scientist.
“I wanted to say that it is necessary to convince the parents not only of the harmlessness, but also the usefulness of this matter,” the speaker's voice became flattering and courteous again. - Our institute is already conducting research on the benefits of educational and developmental cartoons. As soon as this information is released to the press, it will be greeted with a bang. After all, earlier, for the development of a child, one had to deal with him: sculpt something there, draw or teach chess. And now - put it in front of the screen, and it's done! And our other research suggests that if a toddler already at 1.5 - 2 years old handles a phone or tablet perfectly, then this indicates his high development! True, monkeys master this business in a couple of days, but we, of course, will not insert such information into the report. Let the parents rejoice at how cleverly their baby is using gadgets!
- And what, these educational cartoons of yours really teach something useful?
- Of course, they teach to sit in front of the screen for a long time.
- You do not eat your bread in vain … how are you there? However, it doesn't matter. Good job! - those sitting in the twilight applauded enthusiastically.
Author: Slava Wind
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