On Intuition and Infomercials…
Intuition, as defined by dictionaries, is the ‘power’ or ‘ability’ to gain knowledge and understanding instinctively – without evidence of conscious reasoning, thought, or the mind’s interference.
Since we know dictionaries are emotionless and unbiased, we must contend that this is the proper definition for these feelings we feel which cannot be easily expressed in words. Sometimes, you just KNOW.
We are taught from birth to ignore our innate personalities – to act, react, and interact as we Should, not as we Need To. We are raised with religion, superstition, traditions, cultural preferences, inherited hate, politics, statistics and societal norms – these are the tenets we are taught to obey because they are allegedly “better” than our own. They’ve been established as tried-and-true and if it was good enough for your ancestors, it’s good enough for you.
Bullshit.
We are taught to forgo ourselves for the sake of appearance. Our lives are driven and decided by the thoughts and judgments of others, to the point that many people consider their own thoughts as aberrant.
When I consider the society I live in, the word “false” pops into my brain. Everything is artificial. I look at the world around me and I see that everything is shrouded in the plastic and glamour that dampens the light within us all. The popular thought is governed by a set of V.I.P. elites who tell people what to do, how to dress, how to think, how to feel, what to eat, what to buy…
I think that the “what to buy” is the key here – that materialism of thought and emotion has become overpowering. It is pervasive and can be found in all facets of our lives as advertisement, strategic product placement, endorsement, free trials, special offers and more. We have been conditioned to buy, we have been conditioned to believe we need things simply because we are told we do.
I wonder how much money infomercials make? I was in my garage the other day and came across a bunch of infomercial stuff purchased by one of my housemates. I looked at the ridiculously expensive exercise equipment, now covered in dust and cobwebs, and wondered why they were ever bought? What was it that convinced this person to buy something that s/he would not use and could not afford? Was it the glistening bodies of the infomercial actors? Was it the smooth segue into “but wait, there’s more”? That false urgency of “call now for this limited time deal”? (Here I will note that this particular person has also fallen for many scams, diet fads, lifestyle programs, get-rich-quick schemes, etc. based only on viewing a video related to the subject.)
I can’t quite grasp how one can look at an infomercial and be convinced of “need” simply by a few phony actors claiming the product has changed their lives. The only infomercials I’ve seen are highly entertaining for their cheesiness, but there is nothing about the scripted testimonials that even remotely causes me to want to go to my phone or computer to order the product. I look at the stuff and I hear my mind say, “That’s complete junk. I don’t need it. I’ve lived just fine without it. I’m going to turn off the tv.” My intuition does the thinking for me, there is no wish to buy simply because I’m told I should.
So, my question is, do people who are easily convinced by propaganda still have intuition?
I know that when I was young, I overrode my intuition all the time because I felt a lot of pressure to obey orders and act a certain way, forgiving and excusing abuses from others because I felt like I deserved it and they were entitled to that behavior. It caused a lot of anxiety for me, trying to prevent abuse by being compliant and subservient, though the things I ended up doing were also abuse. I knew what I was doing wasn’t “right” for me as a person, but I did it anyway because I was afraid not to.
I want to try to apply that “fear factor” to purchasing, but I’m not sure how it transfers over. The only thing I can think of is that the fear of appearing materialistically inadequate drives people to spend money on unnecessary things. But, then, what about the products that are never seen by anyone outside of the home?
For exercise equipment, I can see how looking at the “awesome bods” would convince people they would like to look the same way… But does it convince them that they will change their lives enough to dedicate significant time/effort into changing their bodies? I can see how the hope for a better existence would drive folks to buy equipment… but it seems like people forget that they hold the key to their lives, they are the ones who must make the effort, that the equipment is simply a tool to change.
It feels like a piece of the puzzle is missing. The connection between “that looks interesting” and “must buy that” completely bypasses the crucial question of “why?”. And, maybe that’s the point. Maybe the reason we are so collectively gullible is that we were taught not to ask for explanations, since the only answer we ever get is “because”.
To take that a step further, we were conditioned not to ask ourselves for explanations. We do things because we think we’re supposed to, not necessarily because we want to. There is no reason to ask questions when all the thinking is done for you. There is no reason to ask Why? because Who?, What?, When?, Where?, and How? have already been answered for you – before you even got to the table.
I remember, as a second grader, learning about writing and reporting and how one must have answers to all of the “5 W & 1 H questions” before making a conclusion. That has always stuck with me, even when I intentionally ignored it for the sake of saving face.
And, to be honest, I have always known when I was making a huge mistake. My intuition has always given me a nervous feeling in my mind, a queer twinge in my stomach, and the feeling of misgiving in general when thinking of the situation.
But, I was taught to ignore these feelings for “the greater good”. Realistically, I was taught to ignore my feelings because they were unimportant. Everyone else is more important, and I must compromise myself to please them. I truly believed that everything happened because it was supposed to, and that my wishes were irrelevant.
And, that’s how I have always felt – my perspective is unimportant. I am innately a “people pleaser” – always looking for approval. This is not something I enjoy admitting. When I was young, I never did anything that would cause people to think poorly of me. (Never mind that no matter what I did to please people, there was always something I did wrong and always some reason to degrade me.) But, I don’t think it would have gotten to such an extreme level if I had ever been encouraged to be myself.
Granted, I grew up in a time of D.A.R.E and other similarly “inspirational” programs that were intended to teach kids to think for themselves. But, I always thought they were talking to other kids – kids who had a choice. Kids who needed guidance because they were inherently bad since they weren’t always obedient.
But, the message wasn’t “just be yourself”; the message was “don’t give in to peer pressure”. And, one thing I can say is that I’ve never had a problem with peer pressure. Mostly because it is rare for me to identify with my chronologically-aged peers. True, I used to lie all the time to “fit in”, but that was a survival tactic that did not extend beyond the school fences. There was always the realization that the things they did were wrong, and I could not do them because then I would be a bad person. So, I didn’t do anything “bad”. Of course, I lied all the time about the “bad” (aka “cool”) things I’d supposedly done, but I never actually did them.
In these instances, my intuition told me I was wrong to lie, but I felt like it was a necessity. The fact is, I’ve carried the liar’s guilt with me all this time. I remember every single one of the lies I told. And, even though I realize that most of them were silly little lies of a silly little girl, I still feel like I’m a bad person because I have told so many lies. It has been ingrained in me from birth that lying is one of the worst sins a person can commit, that liars are the scum of the earth. I firmly believe I am an unforgivable liar, even when I am telling the truth.
And so, this is why I believe we are all victims of brainwashing in some form. We are all living a lie because we are all living in fear that our true identities will be uncovered. We live in shame because none of us are acceptable. We, in our fear of discovery, are easy to persuade and easy to control.
And, there it is:
Without our intuition, we are controlled by external sources.
The question is, then, can one’s intuition be salvaged after a lifetime of self-suppression?
I believe the answer is Yes.
Dust off that intuition, my friend, and see where it leads you.