http://www.hulu.com/watch/23327/scientific-american-frontiers-hidden-motives
This video talks about how we think subconsciously about how we buy things, how we think about other people and how we perceive deals. Now all of this looks at our subconscious thought not what we consciously think. Jhallys essay discusses how our thoughts have been manipulated by advertising to think in a way that promotes people to consume. Now what if there were no ads that told us what we should think to want, would our conscious thoughts dominate our actions or would our subconscious thoughts control us. Jhally’s state meant shows us that we were told to want certain things so what would we want if we were never told. Let us assume that Jhally’s statement becomes true and we minimize the threat of commercial culture what world and lifestyle would we look forward to.
In the past our luxury of buying things that make our lives easier came at the expense of ravaging other countries resources and forcing others to toil ceaselessly to produce for us. Can we expect this to change if we simply minimize the control of advertising, or will the same principle of ravaging and working for a select few continue? If our subconscious or conscious minds let us choose this current life style of consuming how can we expect that letting us choose again will ensure that this new opportunity at a fresh start will not end the same. If we are to minimize commercial culture we must also maximize something else to make life more promising.
Douglas Domingo
This post kind of relates to stereotypes in the United States, and really, around the world. While reading this article, I thought about the power of advertising and how, as suggested by Jhally, it skews our decisions and has a powerful effect on our minds. Stereotypes seem very similiar to me. You start off as a child and learn things from your parents and peers. Just like advertising, the things you see and hear seem to go to heart. You hear a negative comment, or your parents tell you never to trust a certain group of people. All of the sudden, just like in advertising, you start the accept the statements as valid and you start to think, "well of course, why would it be any other way?" Just like you would think, "well of course, why would I buy any other type of vacuum?"
ReplyDeleteFortunately, as stated in our passages on stereotypes, with a little education and experience, we can change our minds, no matter how deeply rooted stereotypes are. This is similar to thinking one company is better than another, as advertised; then, however, having an interaction with the opposing company and realizing the statements that were advertised were completely false. Kind of like AT&T vs. Verizon or presidential candidates. With more knowledge, comes more power over fighting the "negatives" that are commonly distributed throughout the world.