It's often said that the first step in fixing / repairing / correcting any problem is to be or be-come aware the problem exists.
I read, with mild amusement and distain, the writings and reports of my good friend . . cough cough, ;) ;) . . Roger Dooley, explaining the advancements . . cough cough gag . . being made in the marketing world as a result of the increasingly scientific . . gag . . study of the brain's role in decisionmaking, specifically as applied to consumer behavior.
Neuroscience marketing / BRAinfluence is actually (mildly) interesting stuff . . but it leads me to ask the question: Is it the beginning of the end of the "reptile brain" IF we know the true name of the beast?
If we know we are being given the "reptile treatment" is there a chance - a real chance - that we may evolve, at least in our behavior, to recognize the deployment of reptile brain manipulation(s) and out autonomic "human responses" . . AND THEREFORE have some fighting chance to beat back the beast and those who intend to exploit it?
Are we almost grown up enough to tell one on ourselves? "Hey, I know what you are doing or attempting to do! You want to engage my reptile brain!" Or something like that.
Or are humans destined for extinction just like the dinosaurs, because they just can't get it or get past it? Threat! Threat! Threat! Danger! Danger! Danger! React! React! React!
Can a case be made for a concerted effort to call out all those who engage in reptile brain tactics and will public education ever tame the beast OR are we doomed to "~vote emotions"?
If the problem is in us and in so being in us thereby limits us is it inescapable? Is awareness sufficient? Once aware then what? Dialogue? Public dialogue? Renewed public effort to name the beast in situ - how it's playing out in the here and now - and then what?
Has anything of the recent past made the beast more or less a deciding force? "Don make me think!" Then what? "It's SO complex!" - a variant of "Don't make me think! (Think FOR me!).
If we don't embrace the complexity and admire those prepared to wrangle THAT beast . . what then?
