Un-natural Selection

Being able to choose is a recently evolved phenomenon. Way back when our psychologies were first developing, we did not have the luxury of choice. As cavedwellers, for example, we just had to work with what we came across. We made clothes and tools out of things we killed for food, kept a fire lit for as long as we could if we happened upon a wildfire, and depended on the people around us even if we didn't particularly like them—because that is all we had. And if the theories behind Evolutionary Psychology are correct, at least some of our mental processes have not had time to adjust to our rapidly changing modern world. Today, some humans get to make all sorts of choices, but different cultures value choice in different intensities; some cultures rank individual choice as very important while others rank it as less important. But most cultures are a mix, meaning choice is thought of as good for a society in some circumstances but not others. I live in one of these "mixed" cultures, and I am going to pick apart one cultural phenomenon in terms of what I call "biological choice.” I am going to investigate how our human instincts are influencing our behavior as consumers.

As humans living in the United States, many of us can fake a lot of things; our health, our gender, our age, or our economic success. With the right tools we can choose to be whomever we want. American businesses are good at doing the same thing. With the right branding, consumers can be convinced that any product a business is selling is a match to their various needs. The advertisers these businesses hire use a wide array of tactics in order to convince us to buy stuff, and many of them are based on our biological reactions. Some messages attract our attention via our senses when they use loud sounds or bright colors. Commercials can elicit positive emotional responses by showing groups of "friends" enjoying something TOGETHER—just like we did when we existed in tribes. And using the right combination of biological triggers can render our ability to actually think about what we want to buy just about useless. Language is the influential tool that is most useful. People can use it to communicate the truth and help one another, or use it to tell half-truths so we can manipulate each other...and I think we all know which way most advertisers use it.

Businesses who are not confident in their products pay advertisers to convince us to buy them, and in many cases they are offering us things we don't really need. When I first started studying Evolutionary Psychology (EP), I found the most easily understandable, least jargon-laden information about EP in business journals. While I have come across user-friendly articles by EP researchers more recently, I have also noticed something else—a rise in the number of advertisements that use evolutionary/biology-based triggers to get you to pay attention to what they are selling. Suggestions that you might be missing out on something, tag-lines like "Let's build something together," or any slogans that include the word “hope” speak directly to our inner cavedwellers—and most of us are not even aware that we have one! Advertisers had very little to lose when they started experimenting with adding EP theories to their manipulative repertoires...and l think it's safe to say they are very glad they did.

So as a wanna-be savvy consumer, what can you do? You can ask yourself WHY you want the thing you do. In many cases, it's just because that thing has been put in front of you, in a magazine or a screen-sized window. You might like it, so then you want it. As a modern human, you then might set a goal of obtaining it. It might not be "good" for you, and buying it might put you into debt, but that might not matter. If you get the thing you want, you feel good. And that is only because you have accomplished a goal, and accomplishing goals is what has kept our species alive for tens of thousands of years. We would not have evolved so quickly if we did not set goals and then reach them. We have invented many things as humans that have made our lives more efficient, like the wheel or the computer, and these things started as someone's idea that became someone's goal. And unfortunately, if you are considering buying something that makes your life more convenient (like paper plates or another refrigerator), chances are that thing is bad for the environment.

So did you really need that thing you just bought? Is it really going to make your life easier? Did that thing make you feel like you were part of a group because you were included in a trend? Did it prove to others that you had enough stored resources to buy something that everyone else wanted? Maybe you bought that thing to feel important or in control of your environment. Or maybe you were just bored. Most of these explanations are based on habits you obtained as an evolving human, and if you are like me and part of modern "Western" society, it's time to shake yourself awake and ask yourself from now on: Do I NEED that thing I want to buy? Probably not. But at a biological level, advertisers can make you feel like you do.

I think we, as consumers, deserve to know the ways in which we are being tricked into buying things. And further, as citizens of Earth, we have an obligation to pay attention to when we find ourselves being manipulated into consuming resources. We need to slow ourselves down. We need to take a beat, or a breath, and apply logic to our purchases. If we stop to consider our environment and quality of our group (instead of individual) existence, we will have a better shot at surviving in our modern, interconnected world. In isolation, there is nothing wrong with buying something just because you want it or like it—but I think more of us are beginning to understand that none of us lives in isolation. The choices we make as individuals directly affect many other people.

A closing word about Covid-19: There is not some magical balance to nature. "Survival of the Fittest" is real. Every species is out to make it to the next day so they have a chance to help make the next generation. Viruses are no different. They are part of nature, just like people are, and we function using survival instincts the same way other living things do. Those of us that survive what my friend's daughter calls "covid break" will have a chance to restart public life more aware of our easily manipulated purchasing habits. As humans, we have evolved to the point that we can reflect on our impulses, own up to them, and change our thought patterns to include others. In fact, we are so smart, we can even make a habit of not only considering other people when we buy things/consume resources, but other species on our planet as well. And it would be just like a modern human to look for a single entity (person or specific country) to blame for the death of thousands/millions of people. It would be efficient...easy...convenient. And it would also absolve the rest of us from any feelings of responsibility for how many people have died. But holding one person or group accountable for what happens in nature is not reality. Natural Selection is. 

Listen to this soundtrack for Un-natural Selection

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ry2TLQyYaqZvRiGhN3Fdv?si=ztHJkItQQ9aiM6rC7x5Ygw

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