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WHEN I ATTENDED Sunday school as a child, I was taught that God is always watching over me. It was a frightening notion, but one I grew accustomed to. My mother would often remind me to “watch your Ps and Qs,” though I wasn’t entirely sure what that meant. Nonetheless, I understood the importance of behaving properly.
Today, it seems we have a different form of surveillance. As George Orwell so aptly depicted in his book 1984, Big Brother is watching. The idea of living in a society where every action and word are monitored by a controlling authority is unsettling. Yet, here we are, under the watchful eye of technology companies.
During childhood, most of us had parents who kept a watchful eye on us. Ideally, they were loving and attentive, looking out for our best interests. But perfection is rare. Many parents are flawed, simply because they’re human. Successful children learn to navigate these imperfections, avoiding pitfalls that could arise from saying or doing the wrong thing at the wrong time. Survival and prosperity often depend on mastering this imperfect world.
Our modern-day big brothers monitor our every action we take with our devices, whether it’s our smartphones, electric cars, e-readers or laptops. We’re constantly under observation, with the primary intention of selling us something. But do we want what they’re selling? Often not. If we did, we’d buy it without the need for persuasion.
Just like traditional salespeople, these electronic counterparts refuse to take “no” for an answer. They relentlessly push products based on our past behavior, assuming that’s all we’ll ever want. It’s frustrating, akin to walking into a library and being confined to one section each time.
So, what can we do? We must recognize the game that’s being played. It’s a game where they claim to know our desires better than we do ourselves. But we still have the freedom to choose. Awareness is key. We must remember that we can resist these subtle nudges, and exercise our right to say “no.”
For some, especially spenders, this game is a boon, offering endless opportunities to acquire new possessions. But for others, like me, it’s irrelevant. We only purchase what we truly need or desire, regardless of external influence.
I worked with a guy who announced to me on Friday that he was going to look at Chevrolets over the weekend. I wished him luck. Come Monday, I asked him if he looked at those Chevy cars.
He said, “Yes and I bought a Pontiac.”
“I thought you wanted a Chevy,” I said.
“I did, but the salesman showed me the Pontiac, so I bought it.”
“When are you going to pick it up?” I asked.
“I picked it up that day.”
Talk about a good salesperson.
Many people, who intend to buy one item, can be persuaded to buy something else by a good salesperson. That’s nothing new. But being nudged into buying something subliminally is all part of this new digital game. To win, you need to know the rules.
Temptation has been with us from the get-go. Having the willpower to resist is a practiced skill. Knowing these forces are going to test our willpower requires awareness. Understanding what’s happening will help us say “no” when “no” is the right answer.
I am not prone to fall for sales pitches because I am suspicious of anyone making one, and I can easily come up with reasons not to make a purchase I don’t really need. But I am sometimes my own worst enemy is identifying things that might be of value to me on my own.
So, I have become very interested in assessing how much advertising exists that mostly tries to keep either a company or a product in front of you over and over again.
Just knowing a company or a product exists is the first step toward a sale. In pre-Internet days, it was just getting someone to come into your store and look around. Now, it is having someone click on your site to investigate, or to have someone think of your company or product if a need (sometimes a manufactured need) surfaces. The consumer needs to be very disciplined, and just say no – to themselves even more than to the sellers out there.
Your friend, to be kind, is an idiot. Impulse buying a car demonstrates the deferred gratification capability of a two year old. Of course he is not alone, which I suppose funds a lot of free entertainment for people like you and me who aren’t much influenced by advertising or salesmen.
I find it infuriating, and do what I can to keep my data to myself. For instance, my web browser is Firefox, my search engine is Duckduckgo and I run an ad blocker. My primary email account is Protonmail. I have never had a Facebook or Instagram account and my Twitter account has been dormant for years. I turn on every privacy protection available on my phone and iPad, and don’t run many apps. I take care of my finances on my desktop.
Pretty much the only ads I encounter are on TV, and they are mostly for pharmaceuticals, which I have no trouble ignoring. I do use Amazon, but I never look at anything below the search line on the first screen, and I ignore the first few search results.