Emotions dominate us!
Emotions Dominate you and me and all people on the planet.
In modern times with all our advances made as a civilization, we tend to think we have become very rational as a species.
The reality is that we are still dominated by our emotions.
We are still dominated by the mammalian part of our brain.
This brain sometimes referred to as the limbic system or mammalian brain.
This part of our brain is where all emotions are located.
Emotions are one of the most powerful forces in the universe.
Think about powerful emotions like Fear and Joy.
These two emotions are what drives a lot of human actions on this planet.
But there is a long list.
Let's look at some more like anxiety , anger, surprise, trust, grief, love.
Sure, men use rationality and focus as powerful tools but it takes discipline and willpower to guide rationality so that we reach our goals.
Beneath this “rationality”, the truth shines through.
The truth is our emotions still drive our rational action.
There are common emotions used in marketing for example envy, happiness, and fear. But there are a lot more:
1.Curiosity
Curiosity is a big one.
Humans are curious.
We love to look at what is behind the door.
We gossip and tell stories.
Our curiosity is both a strength and a weakness.
2. Vanity
Vanity is our favorite sin.
We love to look at ourselves in the mirror.
We love to the likes on Instagram and people that admire us.
Celebrity is very important in our societies because people are vain, it's in our nature.
3. Fear
Fear is one of the most powerful motivators in the universe.
Fear can both be used as a tool for good and bad.
Marketers use fear to let you buy their products.
People will buy things they don't need because of the fear of losing something or someone.
We can use fear to transform ourselves.
But we can also let fear destroy us.
4. Benevolence
We, humans, do good things too.
We love to do good and help others if we are in the position to help others.
That is the reason charities and fundraising work so well.
We feel good when we help others.
Marketers also use benevolence to get money from people by dramatizing a specific cause.
5. Insecurity
We humans many times feel we are not good enough.
Not good enough for the job, relationship, or family.
We are hard on ourselves and the insecurities can lead us to do stupid things like suicide or go to drugs and alcohol.
Marketers use this emotion to make people buy their products.
For example, not feeling pretty enough?
Get this pill and your skin will look younger.
These are a few emotions that we humans get influenced by and use to influence others.
There are many more marketing emotions to tap into.
The list is long: benevolence, boredom, complacency, surprise ,confidence, confusion, curiosity, desperation, disgust, embarrassment, envy, vanity, exhaustion, fear, guilt, indifference, insecurity, laziness, loneliness, love, lust, stupidity, optimism, passion, annoyance, patriotism, pessimism, happiness, pride, revenge, sadness, altruism, anger, shyness, sympathy, whimsy and wit.
Elon Musk recently had an interview on the Joe Rogan Experience podcast where he made a very interesting point.
He said that most successful online platforms are the ones that resonate most with our Limbic system.
He said that it's our primal drives that you can see as a mirror on these platforms.
Things like hate, fear, and love.
They are all there.
He said all these platforms are a projection of our Limbic system.
I'm sure there are problems with social media and the way we use them but the bottom line is that we are those platforms.
They are a projection of our complex emotions and our mammalian primate nature.
All our most natural drives get stimulated on there and we get that little dopamine hit that we get addicted to.
A long time ago we lived in small villages and everybody knew everything about everybody.
These platforms have given us this ability to know everything about everybody at a massive scale and we don't know how to handle this.
Its driving people crazy.
It's causing all kinds of problems that we don't realize yet.
It is all about our emotions.
Think about platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
They are a reflection of our Limbic system.
They are designed to trigger our emotions and keep us hooked to those platforms.
Pick Up artists have used this knowledge of the Limbic system very cleverly.
As a species, we are all irrational but women, in general, are more emotional than men.
The Limbic System Guides The Rational Part Of Our Brain
Our limbic system guides the rational part of our brain to do things that please the Limbic system.
It's not the other way around as many people think.
Many people believe the rational brains drive the human animal and make all the decisions.
No, this simply not true.
All you have to do is turn on the news for 5 minutes to figure that out.
The truth of our current society is that we are just as emotional as we have always been.
We are just as irrational as we have always been.
Yes, we have more knowledge and technology.
But we don't make decisions based on that knowledge, we make decisions based on emotion.
We do this without even knowing this.
Sure we have moments of rational thought but about 80% of what we do come from deep primal drives.
So why is this important?
Well, it's important because this knowledge gives you an advantage.
It will let you know that most people you deal with are irrational.
Women especially, by their very nature, are even more emotional and irrational.
You are being influenced every day by marketers, social media and politicians that use the power of our Limbic system to make us do things that they want.
By knowing this you can be more aware when people try to trigger certain emotions and influence you.
You can also influence others by studying marketing, communication, and psychology.
We live in a complex world driven by ancient human drives and impulses.
We are intelligent monkeys with computers, guns, and money.
So you need to empower yourself with specialised knowledge.
This is the reason why future successful politicians will be people who have high levels of social intelligence.
They will also have a good understanding of communication, social media, and marketing.
This is the future of success in a world with human animals in a world of a technology revolution.
So start learning or get left behind.
Your success in the future will also depend on your knowledge in these most important fields mentioned above.
I will mention them again.
Communication, social media, and marketing.
You have to master these areas to get an edge on your competitors.
We are going into a new world with ancient bodies, so study both the human machine and the tools that are most important to be successful.
The bottom line of the human experience is that we have a very limited understanding of reality.
We like to think that we are very rational but its a myth.
Our brains are just not cable of forming a good picture of how reality works and the real meaning behind it.
Conclusion
We are most of the time irrational and only sometimes do rational things.
The fall of stock markets every few years is but one example of how supposedly “financial experts” get the world into trouble.
If you think of these “experts” as irrational beings who occasionally act rationally then it all makes sense.
The Truth is that the “totally rational human mind' is a myth.
