Emotional stickiness...
... is the one thing that explains the most of the products on your shelf, the mattress you sleep on, the place you work, the people you hang out with... the life you live...
Stick with me here... you walk into a store, and up to a shelf of widgets - your choice may consider price, but there's a big chance it centers on the story (good or bad), or lack thereof.
The story a commercial, a radio ad, something you've heard from a friend, a good or bad personal experience, movies, books, rediculous associations your brain makes...
Your neural network is built from associations your brain has made again and again... Those associations can be strengthened faster, with fewer hits, when combined with various chemicals:
- Serotonin: Triggered in moments of depression, anxiety
- Dopamine: Pleasure... anticipation, sex, food
- Epinephrine (adrenaline): Stress
To some degree, your brain doesn't know the difference between an actual experience and a good story... in both cases, your body reacts emotionally, releasing chemicals into your bloodstream and strengthening associations that can later be used when you're standing in front of a shelf full of widgets or when you're referring a drywall person to the poor guy whose kitchen sink pipes have rotted through, dumping gallons of delicious kitchen-sink goo onto the ceiling of his lower level, destroying walls, carpeting, but luckily just missing the pool table. (2 notes on this, 1. always use copper, steel sucks. and 2. I'm pretty good at plumbing, so didn't need a referral for that part.).
When you read your kids a story, or when they watch a movie... actually, anytime that they're awake, or even sleeping and dreaming, their neural networks are firing away, responding to emotions, creating associations.
... For those of you with girls:
When you're reading them many stories about the same little orphaned immigrant girl from Germany with Typhus, Scabies, and Bubonic Plague, who otherwise happens to be perfect in every way... your little 8-year old reading addict experiences some form of emotional overload that leads to a strong association with the protagonist and everything that's good in the world.
Either A: Avoid American Girls with a passion, or B:Start saving now. Seriously, we're just short of an 8th birthday, and this is rediculous. I'm amazed: $89 will get you a doll (the one whose stories you've been reading to your daughter for years), who at this point isn't a doll, but a freaking person with more stories you can imagine... which is the point of this post. $89 isn't the bad part... it's when they nickel and dime you afterwards (read: $20 and $35 you afterwards) with more outfits, real-life girl-sized outfits that match the doll's, leashes, dogs, cars, shoes, bags, movies, books, and shock collars.
The Value Of The Story
That doll just burned a $500 hole in your pocket... because of the emotional stickiness induced by a few innocent, morally-centered stories.
Print | posted on Thursday, July 14, 2005 9:19 PM