Infomercials, QVC, & HSN: Do I Really Need That?

When suffering from bouts of late night (or early morning) insomnia, nothing puts me to sleep like the smiles and promises that flash across the television screen during an infomercial. Most of us have seen them--infomercials that offer amazing deals on things we all must have, and home shopping channels that we must call right away to ensure we get the item we need before it sells out. When we see that the seller is "throwing in free gifts," reducing the number of payments if we call within the next three minutes, and boasting high customer satisfaction through "unscripted" testimonials, it's hard not to fall for such attractive offers. Each of us starts to tell ourselves, "Yes, I really do need a steam cleaner," and "I've always wanted to make my own ice cream." And of course, we're always in luck because for a limited time only, the handy steam cleaner of your dreams only costs three easy payments of $39.99 and the easy-to-use ice cream maker comes with a free, revolutionary ice cream scooper.

Why are we lured so easily into buying things we just don't need, or even want? Has our culture become so rooted in materialism that we cannot make the distinction between wants and needs anymore? Bill McKibben in The Age of Missing Information says that, "On these channels—the shopping networks, the channels that devote half their day to the ‘infomercials’—you are more and more encouraged to buy simply because the very act of buying will make you feel good” (123). This is an insightful thought that not only makes me think about where human desire might stem from, but also about people's decision-making abilities in an economic sense.

One assumption in economics is that when consumers buy something, they make a logical decision based on perceived value and the belief that the benefit they will receive will be greater than the cost incurred to purchase the item. However, many times, consumers don't exactly know if the cost of buying an item will be less than the benefit they will receive from it. This is a topic discussed frequently in the field of behavioral economics. In this relatively new field, psychology and economics meet, leading economists to better understand some of the economic decisions people make everyday that are seem irrational.

Here are some links to interesting articles about the behavioral economics:

Why We Buy What We Buy

Behavioral Economics on Why We Buy What We Buy

And here is the video I made about infomercials, QVC, and HSN:

Interpreting the Natural World: Science vs. Religion

Christ Saint John of the Cross

Salvador Dali

Which side are you on? Even in today’s headlines, the historically caustic relationship between science and religion is evident. Yet are the two really so incompatible?

Some of the tension between these two belief systems is evident simply through their definitions. Science is defined as a state of knowing, religion, a state of belief (Oxford English Dictionary, 1989). Furthermore, with the break-neck pace of technology, science is creating possibilities that, while physically possible, are thought to be morally wrong. Some argue that this dichotomy is harmonious, that the two balance and complement each other.

McKibben supports this in his book, Age of Missing Information when he describes a lava flow that wipes out an entire village:
"I think anyone who has worked around the lava flow has a feeling that there is a power our there greater than ourselves, and that is greater than something we can quantify with our numbers and the data we collect. There is nothing about Pele that is incompatible with science… Science hasn't undermined the feeling that God is present in the natural world- if anything, it’s sharpened it, shown scientists ever more sharply the limits of human understanding, continually increased their respect for the harmony around us." (93)
This sentiment has been echoed by many prominent scientists, even though less than 10% of them believe in God (Eukland, 2007). Sir Bacon, Galileo, Kelvin, and Einstein all echoed the aforementioned quote. There are examples in the scientific and natural world that are awe-inspiring, that make one experience what Freud called an “oceanic feeling”, that something bigger is out there. One of the most intriguing of these examples is the Fibbonacci numbers and the golden ratio.

The Fibonacci numbers work by beginning with zero, then one, and each subsequent number is the sum of the two previous numbers in the following way: 1/1=1, 2/1=2, 3/2=1.5…, 5/3=1.6666…, 8/5=1.6, 13/8=1.625, 21/13=1.61538. As the sequence proceeds, it approaches Phi/the golden ratio (1.61803399). This seemingly arbitrary number is seen all throughout the natural, art, and architecture worlds. Some examples where the golden ratio is found are shells, pine cones, the breeding pattern of bees, the Vetruvian man, the Mona Lisa, Michahelangelo’s Holy Family, the Great Pyramid, and the Parthenon . Some say that DaVinci was the first to apply this golden ratio to the perfect face, and how it is seen in the faces of those society considers beautiful.

All these examples, however, are from the past. There are no examples of this ratio in most modern art. And as time has gone by, less and less people believe in God. McKibben points out a possible explanation for this phenomenon “only with distance from the natural, larger world that this recognition (worship) begins to dim; in ancient forests, he says, there are no atheists… the awareness of god’s presence is and ever has been the most persistent specific trait of our species (93). Is this true? Does modern society distance us from nature? From religion? And is this inclination to believe innate? A previously mentioned statistic stated that only 10% of scientists believed in God, but 66% consider them to be spiritual. This is an overwhelming trend, of people moving away from organized religion and towards spirituality. What does it mean, and where do religion and science fit into our society? Your life?

More things to consider:

· The Embers and the Stars a book by philosopher Dr. Erazim Kohak, about reflections obtained from building a cottage in the woods (parallels with Annie Dillard?). Dr. Kohak discusses nature and human’s role in creation.

· “How to Teach Science to the Pope”

The Fibonacci sequence and the Golden Ratio