Bye to Buy

What role does clever product marketing influence our spending habits?

We all fall prey to the hype of clever marketing whether it is on a conscious or subconscious level. Yes, we see those images of perfect men and women smiling at us from a billboard or magazine cover and we want to have what they have, perfect faces, perfect lives and above all success and happiness. So we ask ourselves how do we achieve this and the answer comes back to us in plain black and white writing. All we need to have what they have is buy whatever they are wearing ,holding or are photographed vaguely close to and we will become them. We are buying dreams and fairy dust and not the product.

 The truth is we are all being brain washed and what we believe as the truth based on no tangible evidence is just a fantasy which we are buying into literally and figuratively. The hard reality is our perception is not based on core values but hard marketing ignites an emotional response in us. We want to better ourselves, and at the same time we want to keep up with the Jones’s. So we will buy that toothpaste that offers us impossibly white teeth or that car which is a chick magnet or that insurance policy that will offer a lifetime of financial security.

Marketing is just a clever business strategy that often plays on our insecurities. We feel fat, so when we see the infomercial on TV that offers washboard abs with little or no time and little effort by using nothing more than a piece of plastic we believe, because we want to believe. If this is backed by actors pretending to be users with doctored before and after pictures and promises of scientific research and development with proven results, well even better. And when we get tired or bored of our new fangled abdominal machine through our own experience, without even self explanation we throw the device under the bed without question or recourse to the manufacture. This is because we feel certain that maybe we and not the device failed. Or perhaps we are not in the 9 out of 10 users who experienced results. Our interpretation is that we must be that 1 out of 10 who cannot ever have flat abs.

Sometimes, intuition is not enough when it comes to opening our pocket books we should demand real evidence not beliefs and promises peppered with half truths. Clever marketing can sell ice to an Eskimo. And often as society evolves and products become part of our culture, we have even more reason and justification to buy products we often managed well without. On a knowledge point of view we need to question if we really need a product and know if it can live up to its expectations.  So do not fall for marketing tricks and say bye bye to buy buy.

Past Tense, Future Perfect

What role does history and historical figures influence our culture and actions?

When we look back at any historical event we can paint a picture that suits ourselves. We can judge events based on our emotional association rather than factual evidence. What we do when we look at the evidence and make a historical documentation is to cloud the truth. And then future generations read this as the gospel truth and we believe the written word. Surely, we think and reason that historians were there as witnesses and they without pre-conceived notions based on evidence of their eyes and ears documented the truth without prejudice. The real truth is that historians’ knowledge may not always be first hand. A series of Chinese whispers takes place that distorts the real hard core facts and public opinion gets in the way of facts. Often interpretation of any events or a perception of the character of an historical figure is based on belief and values and emotions rather than sound judgment?  So how can we really trust or justify that Hitler was the bad guy and that Gandhi was the good guy? Are we seeing two dimensional creations that become historical fact? Is not the truth that we hope secretly that history will be kind to us. We want our epitaph and tombstone to be flattering and positive. We want to be remembered as perfect when we never are. We want to edit our mistakes so that others will remember us fondly. Is it at all possible that Hitler had some good points and Gandhi had some bad points but we conveniently ignore these to maintain our evidence and keep on proving our point? Would any evidence to the contrary destroy our inherent belief system of how someone or some event needs to be remembered? After all, history can be kind or cruel. This is similar in a way a movie or restaurant can get good or bad reviews. But unlike a movie or restaurant which may have its good or bad points history is always black or white.

Then if this is true then is not history manipulating us by controlling our cultural and emotional response to a person or event. And does history simply repeat itself or do we learn from our past mistakes such as wars?  Yes, of course we are influenced and controlled by history, but that control is never enough to change our instincts and intuition or us culturally as a whole community. Let us take the proof and evidence of Gandhi. He is revered in India and in fact the world as a great man, the Mahatma or great one. We all believe his truth and values relating to peace and non-violence. But experience has shown that India or the World does not blindly follow his belief system. We have not changed culturally as while we admire his beliefs, we interpret each situation we encounter with our own intuition. Therefore, India and the world still continues to have wars, violence and riots. The principle of peace lives on in theory but not always in practice. We acknowledge and reason that we as mere mortals cannot all conform to his perfection. We are imperfect, and therefore will scream and turn to road rage at times at simple events such as a traffic jam.

We believe with certainty that history is the truth but we never look to history to define our present or future. History, is after all simply that history….

Much Ado About Nothing

What is it about mathematical theories that makes it convincing or unconvincing?

From early man in prehistoric years, we invented the wheel and learnt to write on the cave (our earliest white board), and learnt to count. Little did these prehistoric men realize that they were actually using complex mathematical formula to invent the wheel. Something, in their brain was pre-conditioned to solve equations and formulae. Therefore, from this evidence we can justify the belief that mathematics existed long before formal education. Early man used his experience and intuition to use the laws of physics combined with the intricacies of mathematical design to make the simple wheel which we still use in modern day transportation.

But it was not until the Greek mathematicians such as Euclid and Pythagoras with the advent of the simple abacus as a counting machine back in circa 600 BC that mathematical theory began to be taken seriously and was formally documented. The word mathematics in fact is derived from the ancient Greek for, ‘ subject of instruction’. In fact the study of mathematics for its own sake and the use of generalized mathematical theories and proofs, is the key differences between Greek mathematics and those of preceding civilizations. The concept of zero played a role in defining the growth of higher mathematics which is a major step in the history of mankind. Zero is a synonym for none. Mathematics surely starts with zero, but how can we believe the concept and perception nothing exist?

So on a knowledge point of view how do we really know that zero is the lowest number and that below this are negatives numbers, there are half numbers, decimals and there exists infinity? How do we really know that 2 plus 2 really equates to 4? Is there really enough proof and explanation to justify our belief or do we blindly accept all interpretations as the gospel truth on blind faith, without real understanding. Do we use reason or are we using our emotions that scholars must be correct. Is our perception of the truth behind the mathematics based on certainty and evidence or just trust? For the most people on this Earth we believe because we are told to believe from teachers and parents who we perceive as being more knowledgeable than us.

For the most part the majority of us hate mathematics. We shy away from this complex brain twister and consciously accept that mathematics and the visit to the dentist are our pet hates. There seems to be no logic or tangible explanation for this subject. But our inability to conquer or enjoy this subject is based (like the dentist visit) on one emotion, fear. We already have a preconceived notion that if we cannot see our subject of study, (like biology can be seen) or understand it as factual (such as history), then we need to fear this study.

What we need to do is to conquer our negative perceptions. We need to trust our intuition and make mathematics our friend. By doing so we open up our mind and our level of understanding increases. We also need to give reverence to a subject that has supported scientific studies and given us inventions that have enhanced our lives. So perhaps the derogatory zero should be renamed to hero…..

The Money Pit

How does our knowledge and perception on economic forecasts influence lifestyle changes and spending habits due to emotional fear?

Economic reports are often full of doom and gloom. If you scan the headlines of any newspaper or watch the financial news we seem to be permanently at the precipice of a recession. And this seems to be a global phenomenon, not restricted to any one country or market. But the crux or epicenter of this financial earthquake always appears to start with the only superpower, the United States which manages without fail to send after shocks throughout the world. After all, they say if the US sneezes the rest of the world catches a cold. But on a knowledge point of view how accurate and believable are economic forecasts. Are trumped up business suits with their Harvard degrees trying to simply flex their muscles on their economic knowledge, with their charts and graphs which translates to the latest breaking new? After all is it not true to say the media needs a story and that story needs to be sensational? No one wants to read that all is well, that does not translate as good copy or become a talking point over the water fountain at the workplace or on the bus route. Are economists and financial wiz kids simply playing god, hitting us where it hurts most, our pocket book and using scare tactics for some self serving purpose, such as controlling stock markets or bad mouthing the current administration for political gain. Often non tangible data is analyzed and intuition and belief used, so how do we decipher the truth from the guess work.

A recent article showed that the RBI is increasing its repo rate once again to decrease the money supply in the hope of reducing spiraling out of control inflation, despite the downside and risk on economic growth. The RBI hoped the commercial banks would offer more costly loans thus decreasing demand due to less money supply and increasing supply to bring the cost of living down. But for any normal person who has a job and savings, how much of any reports of economic futuristic downtown affect our lifestyle and spending habits? Well it does and in doing so we are being controlled by a big brother type of economic regime. We perceive as the gospel truth reports as they are derived by experts and we consider ourselves laymen in this highly complex field. We believe the evidence presented without actually understanding or having concrete knowledge or experience. We justify our reactions by explaining to ourselves that if we do not believe then we shall fall. We shall be left behind and poor while others were smart enough to make changes to accommodate the forecasts. So we stop going as much to restaurants or we forgo that new car or holiday and we stop splurging on that new dress or shoes, not because we have knowledge or not because we no longer have the capital or means but because of one simple justification. And that justification that we are certain of is FEAR. In fact in reading the novel, “ one night at a call centre “ I remember the author criticizing the US that the popular Dunkins Donut slogan, ‘ America runs on Donuts” should be more appropriately changed to, America runs on fear. Fear without real proof or understanding of the issues. Almost on a rumor or whisper, we change our lifestyle based on hearsay, predictions and our fortunes are defined by crystal ball gazing. Reuters recent reports show that holiday shoppers to spend less in the US amid financial fears .About 27% percent of people surveyed by Americas Research Group said they planned to spend less this year while 55% expects to spend only as much as last year as they expected the economy to slow further before recovery and did not feel better about their family finances than a year earlier. But this fear surely is not based on their own analysis, they do not hold economic degrees or prowess and yet they perceive the truth from only what they hear. You might have a job but stories on job losses and high unemployment make you think you will be next even though the unemployed may be less qualified. The truth is more than 90% will hold onto their jobs and yet the entire focus is on the 10% who are jobless.

We need not to blindly believe but know the truth comes from our own personal experience. It may well be that emotional fear is the driving force behind our actions and reactions when logic needs to prevail.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903927204576573930170368972.html?mod=googlenews_wsj

Zero-ing on Size

How does our perception of the industry standard of the perfect body type lead to emotional insecurity and poor body image?

Recently scanning through the pages of the American magazine, ‘life and style’ the article of ‘Dieting To The Extreme’ caught my eye. Here popular celebrities such as Kate Middleton and Angelina Jolie, were shown looking highly emaciated as if pressurized to conform to standards that dictate beauty and fitness to remain popular and iconic. Is it not ironic that those in the enviable position of wealth and privilege, who can afford to eat in the worlds best five star Michelin acclaimed restaurants look as if they could do with a hearty meal. While those not so lucky in third world countries are lucky to sleep not hungry? One has a choice while the other does not. But this is not about the moral issues but on a knowledge point of view of what drives these women to the brink of starvation. And how their images praised and lauded has a domino effect on our perception of beauty and, how we react without reason emotionally to these conceived values.

I remember that my first image perception of the ideal woman was Barbie. And while I dressed her and combed her hair, I never stopped to question why she has an unreal, unobtainable body measurement that bordered on the ridiculous. I never realized that a fully grown post pubescent woman cannot have a 40” bust and a 18” waist!  It was the norm and acceptable and every little girl worth her salt wanted to grow up to be Barbie. In fact from as long as we can remember women wanted bodies out of the ordinary. Therefore, in the movie ‘Gone With The Wind’, we saw poor Scarlett O’Hara trying to tighten her corset to have a 16” waist so she could nab a husband at the ball. But is this not about conditioning and societies dictates that make us believe rather than actual facts and knowledge?

Today, in the fashion magazines we are bombarded with images which are airbrushed and photo shopped to perfection. And in fashion shows across the globe we applause at the stick thin figures with their pan caked faces and rouged cheeks in awe and admiration or at the six feet skinny mannequins on display in stores. ( However, we are shocked at the sight of starving bony Africans in their recent famine. What sort of warped standards are we setting?)  So egged and encouraged by these fashion images we try on the clothes only to realize that we fall far from expectations. We have failed while those we admire have not. So in an attempt to conform to ideals we starve and exercise to obtain approval.  We justify our actions on the belief that those in the know are right. We wrongly interpret media attention and focus on bodies as our core values and part of our culture and custom and tradition.  And we convince ourselves that there can be no other alternative or explanation that we must be thin.

The truth is we do not have actual factual knowledge. Weight is just a fad, a passing trend. Were not all those women in Raphael paintings bordering on the obese, and were they not considered beautiful in their time. Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder, it is not a knowledge but simply a perception of the time. If we look at medical facts, anyone with a BMI of 20 is considered fit and healthy, and yet we choose to be below a BMI of 20 as we feel prettier.  We do not know pretty we feel pretty. We feel by our sensory perception when we should be knowing with our neural perception. We are given an yard stick of beauty by weight and we critically measure ourselves and others by this. But this is a falsely created number, unlike body temperature that is set at 98.4 and is knowledge based 30 23 30, size zero waif like proportions are not.

 Is it not time that we ignored these fallacies which are frivolous and promote poor esteem and body image and serious disease such as anorexia nervosa and bulimia. Supermodel Kate Moss to many epitomizes beauty, famously, said, “nothing tastes as good as skinny feels”. May be someone she never tucked into a cheeseburger or cheesecake to know how that tastes. And while we can debate on this issue forever, it certainly gives us food for thought!

Back to Our Roots

How does the influence of a foreign culture hurt the sensibilities and traditions of a country?

Whenever, Valentines Day, comes around in India there are always news reports of local political groups kicking up a fuss that this new norm goes against traditional values, culture and religious beliefs. There is a belief among a section of the population that this trend of aping the West corrupts especially young minds and it is perceived that this will lead to a breakdown of centuries old traditions. Western infiltration and influence is thought to be evil and should be stopped at all cost to preserve family values and morality. Of course the ‘culprit’ tends to be the United States that has a powerful affect not just in India but globally. We can see it everywhere to Mcdonalds springing up all over China, to children in the UK now having a school prom. Language is also a key factor as all over the world we are literally invaded by American slang. The police are now cops and the currency is now termed as bucks. Whether it be Hollywood movies, MTV culture, clothes, music or food the influence of US culture is hard to ignore.

In the example of India, and China which have over 2 billion people between them representing over a third of the population, the perception that traditional culture is in danger may well not be justified. Yes, there is influence but the extent of that influence may be limited and not critical. These countries have a very solid foundation of influence that cannot be dissolved in an instant. Religion, clothes family values and food have in fact the counter effect of infiltrating Western culture. Curry has become the most popular food in the UK and Chinese in the US. Western people love the clothes, weddings, jewelry, Bollywood etc of these foreign countries and often cultural divides are merging. Values, tradition and culture of the oldest countries in the world cannot be easily changed by a country only a few hundred years old and there is no real evidence to suggest so. Minor influences are often marketed by foreign countries to make viable sales but both can live in harmony. A recent example is the new Oreo cookies ad which is iconic in the US and is always eaten with a glass of milk or the tradition of cereal for breakfast. Now while we can give an explanation that suggests many will be influenced, nothing suggests that traditional food such as spicy samosa for a snack or paranthas for breakfast can fully replace this. What is perceived as different or an invasion is simply a fear without hard core truth. Often emotions can over ride reason and logic and change can be difficult to accept among those of the older generation. But a large population of India is in fact under the age of twenty five and they are growing up willing to accept changes. Life for them represents a choice of picking and choosing the best and ignoring the worst, and this is certainly progress. While there are aspects of Western culture that may offend or be distasteful to Indian value system surely these will be ignored by many in favor of the traditional. However, the youth also recognize that there are certain aspects of Indian culture that may be distasteful to them, they question the system and demand these unsavory aspects be eliminated. In India these may include, child labor, child marriage, forced marriage or dowry, female abortions, caste discrimination or sati the tradition of burning a widow with her dead husband. In these case, surely it is true to say India can learn a lot from the West and be fearful of it based on popular misconception.

A child’s knowledge of his or her tradition, religion and culture begins early on in the family from parents, grandparents school etc. These core values and beliefs remain ingrained so any outside influence is superficial at best. So while politicos trying to throw their weight around will have protests, there will be little they can do. After all come Valentines day, people will shop for cards and buy roses and the like as a new tradition, but nothing can replace the traditions of weddings, and local customs. And it is this interpretation of knowledge and belief which should allow the spirit of foreign influence to prevail.

Don't Worry, Be Happy :)

To what extent does scientific reasoning and evidence influence ones behavior and lifestyle?

Subject: Laughter Linked to Reduce Risk of Cardiovascular Disease

New scientific evidence makes the claim that people suffering from cardiovascular disease are less prone to life threatening heart attacks if they laugh a lot in their lives. The reverse holds true for those who spend a lot of their day angry. The studies were based on 10 years of research and sample sizes of about 200 or so people with confirmed cardiovascular disease. But are these sample sizes large enough as statistical proof?  Does the same hold true for people who do not have the disease and act as a preventative measure and if all this is true exactly how much of our day are we expected to spend laughing?

For any individual, life’s’ stresses and tensions means that we encounter situations that do not make us happy. This could range from the trivial like being caught in a traffic jam or our football team not making it to the playoffs to the serious such as divorce, financial problems or the death of a loved one. Every person has mood swings and has their ups and downs making it a good or bad day. Much of life is not in our self control so while the studies give great advice, I wonder realistically how much we can adhere to the notion that we need to laugh through life? We understand, accept and believe the knowledge we acquire and we trust to be true that scientific studies must hold credibility, especially if these studies are published, but how do we react?

It would be ridiculous to assume any one will laugh their way through a funeral, just to safe guard their heart. Yes, self restraint and understanding can teach us that when we are caught in a traffic jam, instead of fuming and cursing, we can turn on the radio and hear calming music or better still find the time given as a gift to hear funny stories or jokes. But again how much we can exercise this self healing depends on our genetic disposition to stress induced anger.

Surely, there are question marks to the studies which based on this subject matter are subjective to say the least. Laughter can never be fake it has to be real. So the people in the study how did they really measure their laughter and anger management levels while conscious all the while that they were experimental guinea pigs. While being happy, is certainly a great mantra for all to live their life by how can we not prove that there are so many other factors involved in heart disease. For example what if a person loves to watch comedy movies and spends and therefore spends 2 hours a day forgetting all his woes while he laughs heartily through his daily dose of movie escapism. Great, you may say. But what if I now tell you that he consumes heavy dose of full fat cholesterol and triglyceride laden Haagen Daaz ice- cream during his movie sessions. Will the dilation of arteries caused by laughter as per the studies counteract the constriction of arteries caused by the ice-cream. Is this poor man being mislead by the knowledge he has acquired and has developed a false perception of the truth. Does his belief rely on his own interpretation and experience or certainty that the evidence shows justification to his behavioral changes?

Yes, we are all influenced by what we read, but often we cannot adjust our lifestyles greatly we can simply tweak them. After all studies can be taken with a pinch of salt as often new studies will tell another story. One day eggs are bad for you, the next they are good for you. So is laughter really the best medicine and can an apple a day keep the doctor away? Food for thought…

Sinha, Kounteya . "Thumbs up to don't worry-be-happy theory - The Times of India." The Times of India. N.p., 30 Aug. 2011. Web. 30 Aug. 2011. <http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/Thumbs-up-to-dont-worry-be-happy-theory/articleshow/9790526.cms>.