Neurophysiologists argue that our ability to make independent decisions is an illusion
Can our brains be manipulated to force us to make the right choices? It turns out you can. And this knowledge is successfully used by marketers, making our wallets lighter.
Many of us are sure that man is the master of his own destiny. We decide for ourselves how to live, what to buy and what beliefs to have. But neuroscientists are increasingly talking about the fact that all our ideas about ourselves as a reasonable person are nothing more than an illusion. In fact, we do not consciously decide anything. The first confirmation of this paradoxical hypothesis was obtained in 1973 during an experiment conducted by the American neurophysiologist Benjamin Libet. Sensors were connected to the subject's wrist and to various parts of the brain. The patient had a simple task: to move the right or left hand and remember the time when he made this decision. On the table there was a special clock with a large dial, which the light point ran around in 2.56 seconds - having memorized the position of the point, it was possible to determine the time with an accuracy of 36 thousandths of a second. As a result, it turned out that the electrical signal in the brain that generates the solution occurred half a second before the person decided to move his hand.
In other words, the brain makes a decision without the participation of its owner - we only voice what was sent from “above”! More startling numbers were given by a similar 2008 experiment by a group of scientists led by John-Dylan Hines of the Max Planck Institute for Cognitive Psychology and Neurophysiology in Leipzig. By scanning the activity of some brain structures, it was possible 7 seconds (!) Before making a decision to predict which button the patient would press: right or left?
This means that our "conscious" decisions are predetermined by someone and are the result of the unconscious activity of certain parts of the brain. The question arises: is it possible to manipulate our brain in such a way as to force us to make the right choice? It turns out you can. And this knowledge is successfully used by marketers, making our wallets lighter.
HOW TO MONETIZE HERD FEELING
Study:In fact, people are much more susceptible to outside suggestion than they think. The power of herd feelings was studied by the American psychologist Solomon Ash. He recruited volunteers for the experiments, but told them that the purpose of the experiments was to "test eyes." The real challenge was to find out the students' ability to withstand the pressure of the majority. In all experiments, all groups were composed in such a way that there were seven "decoy ducks" for one subject. The task was simple: compare lines of different lengths and choose the same. The decoy ducks answered first and gave deliberately incorrect answers, the student always answered last. As a result, 75 percent (!) Of the subjects “caved in to the changing world” and also began to call “black white”, that is, long segments - short. That is, three quarters of the world's population, under certain conditions, are ready to join the crooks from Andersen's fairy tale and praise the beauty and cut of the naked king's dress!
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Examples: Marketers have come up with many ways to create majority pressure on the consumer. For example, this is how offscreen laughter works when recording humorous programs. Another classic example is the groups of professional clappers that still exist in theaters. With their paid applause and shouts of "Bravo!" they provoke a thunderous ovation from naive spectators. For the same reasons, the elite pickpocket Petya Ruchechnik from “Places in meetings cannot be changed” went to business with beautiful women. The fact is that in this way the social status of an unfamiliar man rises, people think: since beautiful women like him, it means that he has some valuable advantages. And of course, the banal advertising slogans come from this experiment of Solomon Asch: "Product number 1 in the world!" "Russian housewives choose only this detergent!"Every educated person should read this book!" After all, people tend to copy the behavior of others!
KINDNESS IS TOO MUCH COST
Study: Professor at Cornell University Dennis Regan made an amazing discovery in today's harsh times: the vast majority of people are willing to pay … with good for good. His experience consisted of the following: strangers were asked to participate in the assessment of paintings (this reason was needed just to divert their eyes). After a while, one of the appraisers (in fact, he was Regan's assistant) left the room and returned with two cans of lemonade. He took one for himself, and the second with a broad gesture he held out to the subject as a present. When the paintings were assessed, Joe asked a volunteer to do him a favor and buy lottery tickets from him for 25 cents apiece. Those participants in the experiment, whom Joe previously gave a can of soda (in half of the cases he did not show such a sign of attention), bought two (!) Times more tickets than those whowho did not get the "pop". This is how Regan discovered the principle of mutual exchange: by providing a small favor or making a small gift, we create reciprocal social obligations. How can you benefit from this knowledge?
Examples:This is a trick used by waiters in restaurants. Scientists have calculated that, for example, giving a visitor a couple of refreshing lollipops at the end of the meal, they increase the tip by … 14-23 percent. Various loyalty programs for retail chains and large companies are built on this. By handing you penny souvenirs - like fountain pens, T-shirts, a discount coupon, or trivial stickers (after collecting a certain amount, you can buy some kitchen utensils for half the price) sellers start an internal unconscious process in us. It can be described as follows: I was given a gift, and I will have to repay these people with good. And in response to small souvenirs, we spend serious sums … But what can I say:When the United States demanded that Japan hand over former world chess champion Bobby Fischer, only one country in the world expressed its desire to welcome the famous brawler with open arms. It was a staunch US ally - Iceland. The country's parliament voted unanimously to grant Fischer political asylum in appreciation for Bobby's making her famous by playing here in 1972 for the chess crown.
FOX WITH A ROPE AND TOTALITARY SECTS
Study:Psychologists Jonathan Friedman and Scott Fraser have found that people are extremely dislike for states of inner conflict. Therefore, we are easy to manipulate. For example, would you let five or six unfamiliar men into your house early in the morning so that they would conduct a complete audit of your household inventory for two hours? And all this is of good will, and not on the basis of a search warrant! Do not rush to say: "No, in any case!" More than half (52.8%) of the 156 Californian housewives who participated in the experiment agreed. The trick is that three days before, scientists called women, posing as experts from the California Consumer Society, and asked them to answer a few trivial questions like:"What kind of detergent do you use in the kitchen?" Having made this small concession, the ladies then could not refuse persistent guys in a "big request." Women found themselves in a situation of cognitive dissonance - refusing to comply with a rather unceremonious second request would mean having to admit that the initial decision was wrong to agree to an interview. And we love to look consistent, we appreciate being true to a given word, etc.
Examples: This is how car dealerships act when inviting you for a test drive. Taking one small step towards, you noticeably approach the main goal of the merchants - the purchase of a car. Or dental clinics that announce a free consultation with a prosthetist. Since in this situation the mechanism of altruism is triggered in a person, the technique is often used in charity. For example, people who initially agreed to wear the Let's Help Leukemia badge subsequently donated twice as generous as those who did not complete the initial training. And of course, this move is also used when luring people into sects. It all starts with a small request, for example to spread a couple of brochures in the entrance of your house, etc. And then, like in a fairy tale about a chanterelle with a rolling pin: as soon as you let her into the house to spend the night, you were left without real estate …
Yaroslav KOROBATOV