“Media-driven thing-obsession and near compulsive consumption divert vital energies. Ever more advanced technologies draw us further outside ourselves and into devices. Instant access and constant exposure to the subliminal effects of marketing and advertising cultivate unconscious emotions so paradoxical that what is meant to emancipate and connect also finds us dependent and alienated — our most personal and intimate needs indistinguishable from carefully instilled, pre-packed desires.” A Mid-Life Perspective: Conversations With The Unconscious
Let’s take a look into the exciting future brain psychology has to offer:
“Sleep can have a striking effect on consciousness.” — Ernt A. DeGree
This profound insight is only one among a litany of startling new discoveries by Ernt A. DeGree, recently appointed “fixer” at Genes-R-Us, the latest of the “new-rological” advertising agencies to attract corporate attention. His studies confirm it and more, and the world of commercial group-think is taking notice:
“Today’s marketing paradigm is yesterday’s news. Many experts agree that our studies will have sweeping effects on the global consumer-system. While to the casual eye, it might appear that consumers don’t buy much when they’re asleep,” he chafed, “no one has ever bothered to investigate how the soothing dream-world of somnambulism could be re-purposed to induce them to buy more than they could possibly need — or even want.”
The principle is a logical extension of the crude commercial advertising of the last century which, too randomly dependent on and ignorant of the irrational factors of individual quirk, was blindly limited to more or less specific target-groups. “This hit-or-miss approach, while still highly profitable, was far less than ideal.” he explained. “Modern neuro-technology will soon serve the unique needs of each individual customer in the intimacy of the home sleep-setting without the cumbersome need for conscious attention.
“Patents are already in the works to serve today’s ‘omni-consumer’ whom the old ‘shot-in-the-dark’ market psychology left confused and adrift amid the chaos of conscious choice. Our advanced neurological approach would release the energy of pent-up existential anxieties for more creative pursuits than the tedious and mundane survival activities once required for life’s maintenance — that’s where we come in. The latest data in neuro-psychology tells us that the human body’s primary function is sensual gratification; market-wise, any strictly utilitarian value has fallen by the wayside.”
He described the mind-numbing schemata of modern neuro-psych’s bold new applications: “Recent advancements in the electrode now allow us to track the subconscious wishes of consumers via non-invasive skin implants — decorative, personalized ‘ecto-versions’ will also be available — and coordinate them with a grid of compatible products. A personalized marketing inventory would then be specifically tailored to the individual’s need. Upon waking, a printout of the end user’s deepest desires would be instantly available in material form.
“If certain retailers or brand-names are confirmed in advance, the consumer-mark can simply press the call-in button on his/her ‘Night Register’ and the products would arrive by door-step drone on the following business day. If a more hands-on need gratification is preferred, starred, prioritized outlines would conveniently provide directions to the nearest fulfillment center for the catering of his/her most profound material needs. It will revolutionize the way the market has approached advertising in the past.”
A ‘Super Saver Plan’ would be assigned to each subscriber, identifiable by Social Security number and a customized ‘Buyer Status’ profile. ‘Consumer Options’ would deliver up-to-the-minute notices of important sales events and other such cost-compliant considerations. Depending on economic circumstances, lower-end alternatives would appear according to that individual’s available credit-line.
“It’s a whole new concept based on the expanding spirit of the ‘ultra-individual’ in today’s culture.” he crowed. “The very sphincter of our society is gripped by this ultra-spirit, and the credit service industry must be intimately partnered with theoretical science and applied technology if it is to continue to serve the changing demands of human evolution in the twenty-first century.
“Its impact on the quality of family life will exceed that of the personal computer – or even the cell-phone.” he blarified. “The notion that we could actually experience what we buy, as things in themselves far beyond the old utilitarian vantage-point, and share those experiences with our families was inconceivable outside the context of today’s insights. Modern psychological investigations suggest that we are what we buy. What more personal way to connect with our families and friends than through the shared identification with the material world we so treasure?”
Credit reports or ‘Consumer Indices’ would no longer be the sole province of anonymous ‘powers’ but openly shared as consumer and retailer work hand in hand to maintain the credit he/she has worked a lifetime to enjoy. “If you‘re just starting out as a credit-service variable,” he assured, “consumer counselors will work for you to establish immediate credit with an eye toward creating options for the future.”
Each step in the construction of the consumer’s ‘market ontology’ would be uniquely fitted to ‘life-style differentials’, as his/her ‘Personal Concierge’ blinks real-time appraisals of market conditions and the availability of products from the nightstand. A convenient off-sensor will deactivate the system when the consumer’s energy level is low and reactivate it according to the psycho-galvanic ennervations of his or her own custom, statistically-derived wake-sleep cycle.
“Commercial psychology has labored under a quite negative persona in the past, largely the product of subjective bias; but, thanks to a new empiricism, it’s no longer shameful to admit that we’re subject to brain processes outside conscious control. Shoppers can now have the objective evaluations needed for informed decision-making; to take control of their own consumption.
“The future is now. If we don’t take advantage of the opportunities this new knowledge offers, life’s most gratifying experiences will only continue to be squandered by our children and grandchildren. For today’s culture to accept the foul end of this evolutionary stick now would only be setting it up for failure.”
If you’re searching for a way out of the modern maze, you’ll need a map. Jung furnished one. Read one small example of where it may lead.