Comments by "Xyz Same" (@xyzsame4081) on "CBS Sunday Morning"
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@billwilson5341 No the industry just invented a business worth billions (trillions on global scale) to masterfully and strategically exploit the waythe human mind and instincts work. Humans CAN rise above their instincts - but it is NOT easy when everything drags them into the wrong direction.
Case in point: many people that FUNCTION in society (pay their bills, fulfill their obligations in job, family, take care of children or elderly relatives. Pursue their education, work more than one job, pay debt and maintain a home and car have way too much stuff and consume more than is good for their wallet or their FREEDOM and wellbeing.
They are not lazy and otherwise weak - they do what is needed in other areas.
Beyond the human tendendcy of "more is better" and "chasing the latest shiny object" - stuff - or food - or TV - can also function as superficial surrogate for the satisfying of OTHER LEGITIMATE needs.
Like lack of deep human relationships, distraction from stress, childhood trauma, getting too little sleep and being overworked.
In case people have learned to keep up with the Joneses: part of it natural, humans are social status driven animals / part of it is cultural ....
As every marketer, political strategist or psychologist or sociologist will assure you (with the science to back it up) humans are most of the time driven by emotions and their social instincts.
Consciousness is a costly and slow (if highly useful and flexible) function of the human brain.
WILLPOWER belongs to the conscious part of our brain - that's a resource that should be used sparingly as well. A good habit or social pressure (or cultural norms that children and teenagers soak up while they grow up are worth 10 or 20 acts of deliberate acts of will power.
A Canadian doctor held a lecture about the constant exposure of children to unhealthy food, snacks, sweets and softdrinks. Even in school, sports events, when they do field trips or sleepovers. "There are only so many Nos you have as a parent" he said. That is also true when humans negotiate with themselves when they are "tempted" to do or not do something.
Or when are tempted to buy - that is often prompted by clever sales tactics like a discount, social pressure (Christmas, birthdays, ....) 2 for 1, even flea markets - the good thing about goodwill sales is: it has been brought in circulation already, and one does not lose much money if the insight hits later: I do not really need that, I fell into the trap again, and should get rid of it asap.
There are sales tactics that give the potential somewhat interested buyer a lot of inconsequential things to decide. They will decide about / declare their preferences (but not legally binding, it is presented as hypotheticals).
Like the color of a car, leather seats, HiFi, other extras - one can literally wear people DOWN by making them decide one aspect after the next. (Decision making ALSO drains the energy).
And then when their resilience has been weakened comes the BIG question: How much do you want to pay down ?....sign at the dotted line.
The conscious processes are SLOW (not more than 40 bits per second if I remember correctly) - so most of the time older, more robust parts of our brains run us more or less on autopilot.
Definitely in time of perceived threat, then the older parts of the brain shut down the more modern slow conscious parts. Only well established routines / drills can keep folks functioning rationally in times of stress or high demand (concert pianists, race car drivers, soldiers, pilots, emergency doctors, first responders, firefighters).
The older non-conscious parts of the brain process much, much more data and by orders of magnitude faster - using much less energy (sugar, oxygen, time until humans need a break)
Humans can consciously chose to learn new ROUTINES and habits and skills, which are then AUTOMATED and are available quickly and more reliable and with less EFFORT and drain on energy than anything we do consciously.
Good habits (or having an environment that nudges us in the right direction) by far exceeds WILLPOWER.
Wanting more wasn't a bad thing 20,000 or 70,000 years ago. In ice covered Europe harvesting time was short, collecting diligently ALL the berries or hunting down one more fat deer, bear, ... was a virtue.
It was not easy to get them and make them fit for storage (drying food or conserving it with salt), it got easier when temperature fell in fall, then meat would keep w/o processing. So the labour involved was a natural check on human greed.
Moving hunter /gatherers could not have too many possession so hoarding wasn't an option. (and the caves, huts, dwellings were small, fuel was rare and/or work to collect).
Moreover the articles of daily use were worn down and had to be replaced all the time.
A leather tunic would not last that long and it was a LOT of work to process the leather, and then sew it.
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