Free Will: Thing of the Past?

¶ … Free Will

The issue (not necessarily a "problem") of free will and to what extent people are influenced by subliminal / subtle advertising cues has been a subject of interest for many years, so this is an interesting but not an original problem. For me, I have always felt like I had the free will to make choices based on my desires and interests at the moment, but I am willing to challenge that assertion.

Am I another person that behaves differently when subtle or subliminal suggestions in my immediate environment set my wheels in motion? Or do I even need subliminal cues to take action in certain situations? I'm not in denial, but I wonder if I am more moved by physical stimuli (obvious stimuli) than by subtle, subliminal messages. In this journal entry I'm not insisting that I don't become influenced -- or that I'm not manipulated -- by the kinds of subliminal, subtle suggestions referenced in the article by Eben Harrell.

The Harrell piece suggests that people tend to drink more water after being "subliminally exposed" to drinking-related words. That may well be true for others. But for me, there is nothing subliminal about why I am sometimes motivated to drink more water. For example, do I go to the kitchen and fill my glass with purified drinking water after taking a shower simply because, with all that water cascading around and on me, I am psychologically and physiologically moved to consume more water?

I believe so, and in fact that's exactly what I often do after a shower; so I can challenge the need to be subliminally exposed in that instance. And otherwise I can't think of any time in which I am moved for some reason to go get a glass of water, unless of course I am thirsty or need water to take my vitamins.

That said, I'm not suggesting that I am immune to subtle, subliminal advertising, but I am fascinated by this subject and it makes me question why I make the choices that I do.

Meanwhile, there is nothing subliminal about some of the cues that advertising offers the viewer. In the Harrell article, Ruud Custers writes that soda commercials show the drink with "positive-reward cues such as friends or beaches." Speaking of beaches, there is series of classy beer commercials by Corona, which feature an attractive couple in swim gear relaxing in lounge chairs on a beautiful white-sand beach. They sometimes clink their Corona bottles in a toast to their joyful leisure moments. At other times they play off that dynamic, and while the viewer figures the couple will do what they have done in past commercials, the ad director slips in a different scenario. So it has become something of an ongoing sit-com, a clever manipulation of scenes performed by the same people in the same setting -- a beach.

What I'm saying is that some cues are not subtle, but are either humorous or they simply tell a story, because story-telling in advertising is fundamental to the promotion of any product. For me, I'm not immediately aware that after watching the commercial that I want a Corona, or that I plan to take a walk on the beach (I live near a beach). And yet, I am sure as I peruse the beer selection in the supermarket, the Corona label catches my eye. So something powerful is at work in a non-subliminal format, and that challenges the notion that we don't have free will. But even though I tend to purchase less expensive beer (Miller or Pabst), when I look at the six-packs of Corona, that couple on the beach comes to mind notwithstanding that I have no intention of buying that brand.