TedTalks: Michael Shermer

I really enjoyed this episode (is that what they’re called?) of TedTalks. Michael Shermer is absolutely hilarious. I thought it was very interesting about what he said about all the various myths and how he proved very logically how each one wasn’t true.

One of my favorite parts was when he played the clip of the Led Zeppelin song forward, then played it backwards to hear for the subliminal satanic message. The great part was that you couldn’t really hear much when it was played backwards, until he put the “lyrics” up on the screen to read and follow along as the song went on. Once the words were put up, it seemed obvious that the song backwards was a legit song with demonic lyrics. I also liked the faces on the moon as well as the animal shapes he showed. Each of these examples shows how humans think and react to certain images.

Shermer said that people tend to look for faces, which is why we see the image of a happy face on the moon or a person on a sandwich. It’s true that we tend to look for familiarity, and I think our brains automatically try to categorize an image and break it down into something familiar because familiarity is comforting. Somehow the moon seems like a more perceptible object when there is a human face hidden on its surface than if no image was there at all. That’s also why the cloud game is so much fun: just about everyone has looked up at the clouds and looked for an animal or face or building of some sort in them. It’s just natural for us to seek out familiar images.

As far as the “lyrics” go, once we are able to read what the backwards words are saying, the gibberish suddenly becomes clear. Our minds seek out the words, imagine how they would sound, and then project them into meaningful words once the song is played again. If, however, you were to listen to the song again, but don’t read the lyrics, you’ll go back to not being able to discern a single word – at least that’s how it was for me.

I think this relates to consumer insights in a similar way to one of the articles we had to read for class. The article talked about how consumers oftentimes did not know why they liked what they did and couldn’t define it at all. With no reference point, they were at a loss. I think this is similar to the lyrics. Without the reference of the backwards lyrics being posted, there is no way I would’ve been able to tell what the song was saying backwards. Likewise, when asked an open ended question with no options or references to choose from, consumers have a hard time pinpointing why they like a certain product.

Some of the images, such as the one of the Virgin Mary on the side of a building, drew huge crowds, and the image wasn’t even real. From a marketing aspect, this seems like it was a great marketing campaign without meaning to be. People will believe what they want to believe, and some things just sell themselves because of that. If companies can figure out what makes people do these sorts of things – believe in objects and images that are not real – the marketing capabilities are endless. Consumers wouldn’t even know they are being advertised or marketed to. It would almost be a flawless marketing tool.