Have you ever immersed into watching reels where somebody is changing clothes by snapping fingers / unboxing a new toy / dancing, or doing stupid things you would never do?
Did you feel: curiosity, excitement or did you judge what you saw?
Romantic movies may leave us feeling romantic; and if it is an action thriller – excited.
We watch and watch, giving our full attention, excluding the world around us: carpets, curtains, everything that is in the room even a person sitting next to you.
Everyone does it, so what’s the problem?
A man called Milton Erickson, who lived from 1901 to 1980 in the US, before the internet boom, described this phenomenon when a person’s attention becomes narrowed and focused on one main idea or experience, reducing awareness of other stimuli.
However, he was talking about hypnosis. Erickson used hypnosis for pain management, controlling habits and addictions, and overcoming phobias, anxiety, and relationship problems— making his patients’ lives better with the help of an altered state of mind. It is a powerful tool when it is used in capable hands.
I have to say that we do get into similar trance-like state daily, willingly when we focus our attention on a specific task we want to complete.
And yet, we are also brought into the same mental states by adverts, reels, movies, political rallies, etc., without even knowing how it will change who we are, what we like, what we want, giving our power to somebody who has their interests in mind: more profits and more power, bigger market share.
Little strokes fell great oaks
Ernest Hilgard (1904-2001), a prominent researcher at Stanford University, conducted groundbreaking research revealing that 30% of the population is highly responsive to standard hypnotic approaches. The rest are responsive but less and less with each 30%. In his research, the same script was repeated again and again, exactly the same as we have now in the form of adverts.
Repetition may help to increase the responsiveness. Remember the tune that you couldn’t get out of your head or a movie that left you feeling awkward long after it was over?
Personalisation is key
However, each human is different and is non-standard; therefore, a personalised approach for the suggestion is far more effective, and this is why one-on-one therapies are efficient, where a therapist finds a unique and personal way to approach the client and suggest a change required to treat the addiction, phobia, or helping to excel in what it is they already are good at.
As an example, Dr. Roger Callahan, the founder of Thought Field Therapy, reported treatment of 97% of 68 phobic patients successfully in an average treatment time of 4.34 minutes! This is 3 times shorter than a typical advert break on TV which was capped to 12 min as per EU policy.
The adverts are designed by specialist to appeal their target audience and deliver maximum ROAS – Return on Advertising Spend. Thus the more we see them, the more influenced we are.
Online dilemma
In this digital age, where social media is dominant and where we give away our personal data, our likes and views, we also hand over the big tech companies and their clients the keys to our minds – they are able to fine tune the advertising and message to fit us perfectly.
This is letting them alter how we see the world, what we like/ dislike and consequently, who we vote for who we become. Remember 2016 US presidential elections and Cambridge Analytica who micro-targeted the voters? The effect is real and it is powerful.
How to get the power back?
Whilst going totally offline and disappearing in the forest would be best, it may not sound realistic in today’s world. But what we could do is to mindfully select what we allow into our minds and what we leave behind the door.
There are some technical solutions to do just that: ad blockers, advertising blocking browsers such as Brave allowing you to watch Youtube or other content without interuption, or AI research tools that combine information from different sources, i.e. Perplexity AI etc.
That could help massively to keep the mind safer and cleaner, making space to form our own opinion without being affected or less affected by someone who paid for advertising or wants to capture the attention for the benefit of their own.
I am certain soon we will have AI glasses that would dim or completely block the advertising in the streets, and the internet. Most likely these glasses would come Meta or other Big Tech who were feeding us advertising in the first place.
In doubt? Seek human assistance
If you find yourself in a tough situation or feel that you get easily influenced, fall into harmful habits or you are keen to excel in what you are good in already, seek for professional and personal therapist.
This article is not a therapeutic advice, it is my individual observation what is happening right now in our society.
Consciously yours,
Audrius
