We in this country are free to choose, as we are told, from youth. We can weigh available options to draw our own conclusion. We can come to any conclusion we wish. In the end, after all is said and done we feel like we have been completely autonomous in our decision. Sometimes, however the bets have been hedged...
People in America, on average, are some of the most literate people in the world. We seem to take little advantage of this though. The average American doesn't read any more than absolutely necessary. We all read traffic signs, flashing road warning marques, and the television guide channel. Few of us however, read anything that has a cover and a spine. Less than 47% of Americans have read a book in the last year according to a study done by the National Endowment for the Arts. That means, in a room of five people only two have read anything, and if they have, odds are it was some form of, ”Best Seller List”, pure fiction.
This country has a long history of fighting against censorship. We can't tolerate the idea of someone else telling us what we can or can't have access to. We reserve the right to decide what we feel is acceptable in writing, and we won't be swayed by what someone else feels is too “dangerous” of an idea for the masses at large. There have been deaths, book burnings, and black listings of several people who took it upon themselves to stand up for these rights. In fact it would be hard to imagine a better way to get a large readership today than by trying to censor something.(If someone wants to suppress a story, then it must be good, right?) Few people today don't realize this, and as a result, little attention is called to “dangerous” ideas. It would better serve their purpose to let it wallow in obscurity where it will receive little notice, than to draw a crowd with strong, public opposition.
So with less than half of the people we know reading about any ideas outside of their own, and what is read, for the most part,is what everyone else is reading. How can we, as thinking people, believe we have enough information to make any decisions? Where are we getting exposure to these different ideas we have as “options”; television, the newspaper, radio, or the internet? Each one of these have suffered corruption in the form of censorship in one way or the other, just ask Howard Stern. We have abandoned the very format we have fought so hard, with so high a price, to retain in books. We are bombarded with so many “acceptable” options that we scarcely notice the loss. Most of the information we do have access to in these formats is designed to “educate” us about a particular product or service and how it can improve our lives, better than that of their competitor.
Unless we take it upon ourselves to learn, we will be spoon fed everything we are “suppose to” know.The options we have at our disposal are the ones, people other than ourselves, want us to have. I have a little story to illustrate this point.
I was exploring an “opportunity” to be part of a national sales organization, that will go unnamed here. Suffice it to say they started out with boxes of soap at front doors, and I know you have heard of them. I was taking training on how to sell floor care products to people in charge of purchasing, for large buildings. As the class went on, we went through all the stuff you would expect like, how ours was better than the competitions, how we had a more dedicated service department, and the like. Till we got to the “close” wherein we learned to only ask leading questions so we could some how leave our prospective client one option, to buy from us.
We were shown how to demonstrate the products two or three at a time, (industrial strength, commercial strength, and spot treatment) in the end asking them which one of these products would we be “writing them up for”. You see the sale is assumed, as any good marketing book will tell you, and techniques like this work. The fellow teaching the class said, with a glint in his eye.(as though he felt he had just done something very clever) “You see what I've done here right”,”I don't care which one of these products he chooses, as long as he chooses one. I have left him no option in his response except the one I want.”
This guy was one of their top sellers in this market, he was demonstrating tactics he uses all the time to get sales. He told us to “let them feel like they are making the decision”, and “as long as you provide your options well enough, they will, three times out of ten choose one, as long as they think its their choice”
I couldn't believe this was a technique that actually worked. I have seen similar tactics on a larger scale but this was a bit blunt. I had a hard time understanding how anyone could be manipulated this way. It all kind of works together though, we have become a people who make decisions based on what we are spoon fed. Its as if we have never had reason to explore options on our own, and if we have, it was to long ago to remember. So long in fact, we have forgotten how. It seems to have gotten so far out of hand ,we automatically do whatever we see someone else doing.
Commercials on TV play to this as much as possible. We would be up to our eyeballs in friends and pretty girls if we can just get that new car or a specific kind of deodorant. I find it hard to believe we have all come to these same conclusions on our own, by our free choice. We certainly act like we have though. Most would be offended to think otherwise, and offended we should be. We have been programed for so long, from so many different perspectives, we accept it as our own will.
Dig a little and we discover there are still real options left to be had. The problem is, if they are ideas that aren't economically feasible for major corporations, they won't get much press. We have to seek them out ourselves instead of letting ourselves become carbon copy neighbors. We on the whole are much easier to market to, if we all maintain similar desires. So this mindset is reinforced as often as possible.
I have to question myself all the time about how and where the ideas in my head come from. I let myself be manipulated sometimes, intentionally, and sometimes unintentionally. I want to discover when the manipulation is without my permission as soon as I can though. I have to believe we are capable of being what we choose to,instead of what we are programed to be. Some of the ideas we hold so close to ourselves as our own, are not. Most of our decisions are made out of convenience rather than what we believe to be true. If I choose convenience that's fine, but it should really be my choice, between real options.
