Why did you do that? I don’t know. But the people priming you might: Social and environmental influences, priming the subconscious mind

I’ve always been a fan of the “broken window” theory–I’m surprised it isn’t mentioned in this article, which is very interesting, and has implications for advertising, education…social engineering? This can all be mixed with ideas about environmental influences, social influences, network effects, and recent research on altruisum…

NY Times article: “Who’s Minding the Mind?“

I ended up my original (accidentally deleted) post by stating that a good recipe for influencing people might be to aim for good-natured competition mixed with good-will in general. Sounds like a certain model of capitalism–people being motivated, ethically and good-naturedly competitive and socially productive, and if they make a good deal of money, putting it to good use through philanthropy–a happy medium that hopefully can balance competitiveness and productivity without the need to be overly regulated or taxed. In part because of social priming, mores, and possibly guilt. A sort of “compassionate” capitalism.  User friendly.  Caring not just about people in the narrow role of product or service consumer, but as parts of interlocking and sustainable communities.

Note the part about guilt in the article–the prospect of guilt plus the prospect of making money may be driving a lot of the “green” business initiatives we’re seeing a lot of these days–an example of social influences driving perhaps socially useful and desirable business decisions.

Photo by neurello