Aristotle described the nature of the universe as a series of events that eventually leads back to a mover that is itself not moved, thus the unmoved mover. This unmoved mover is known as the Prime Mover. However, the prime movers that I have in mind are not near so esoteric or metaphysical. No—the primes I have in mind are all of those little triggers that cause us to think or act in certain predictable ways that we are not conscious of.
For example, there is a study where students were provided a number of words that are associated with the elderly—words such as Florida, gray, bingo, and so forth. The students were then asked to use five of the words in a sentence. Another group of students were also provided with a set of words for which they too were to use five and write a sentence; however, their words were random without association. The students were allowed to leave once they finished. The experimenters then timed how long it took the students to get to the elevator and found that the group who had been primed with aging took longer.1
Mental Primes/Physical Results
The priming of mind affected the physical. Other studies have found that priming the physical affects the mind. For example, placebos believed to be stimulants have been shown to effect endurance.2 Indeed, holding a warm cup of coffee while filling out a survey on an ambiguously described target person leads to reports of warm feelings directed at that target person. 3
The effect of labels can be a very strong prime. One very recent study showed that health labels influence flavor perception. Label a product as sugar free, or low fat, or as ‘light’ or reduced salt, and the perception of flavor goes down hill fast. This should come as no surprise since our society tends to collectively believe that flavor comes from salt, sugar and so forth. Perception is entirely based upon expectation and ergo, flavor diminishes when our expectation says so. 4
Transparently Obvious
Primes are very interesting but most of them are also transparent. For example, the jar of hand sanitizer suggests caution, germs, danger, be careful and the like. A room full of balloons suggests a party, fun, frolic, etc. The unfortunate thing about primes is that few pay any attention to how they are used to manipulate. Everywhere you look today there are ads for something, a politician, a political idea, an emerging moral principle, a product, a service and even institutional ads designed to boost good will toward a given company. All of these advertisements will employ as many primes as possible. Why? Because we will positively respond to the prime without conscious awareness and that guides us favorably toward agreement with the purpose of the ad.
The real take away however is this: there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of primes, some more subtle than others, and they have been used to win our agreement over time on virtually everything we believe. So a fair question today is why do you hold your various beliefs? Be they political, spiritual, cultural, academic or otherwise—just what is the agenda behind the motivation that shaped your belief?
Counting on Complacency
Today more than ever we need to guard the information we accept, choosing carefully what and why we think as we do. However, it is our complacency and laissez faire attitude that is counted on by those folks who have agendas they want you to accept.
It took me many years to write my latest book, “Gotcha! The Subordination of Free Will.” The reason is simple: there is so much manipulation and pure propaganda out there, so many outright deliberate lies by those we trust, so much dis-information and so much hidden in agendas that range from profit to power, that compiling it all in one well documented book simply required years to do so. I strongly encourage you to become vigilant about the use of you mind. It is your gift. Deny it and you’re not much more than a puppet dancing on a string. The touch of thought is likely the most important gift given human beings.
Thanks for the read,
Eldon Taylor
Provocative Enlightenment
NY Time Bestselling Author of Choices and Illusions
www.eldontaylor.com
Sources:
1 Priming the Mind
2 Injected Placebo Effects on Endurance Running Performance
3 Incidental Haptic Sensations Influence Social Judgments and Decisions
4 Health labels influence flavor perception