Pre-Destiny As a Form Of Marketing: Utilizing Free Will (Article)

I believe in a mechanical model of the universe. Despite this, I believe in free will. I think it is an important belief to have. If we hold onto this belief, we tend to make better choices over the long-term.

However, it is vital to address the elephant in the room. We may have a great power within us to choose, but there is a greater systemic force that steals that ability from us. All of us probably have some story or memory about driving down the highway, seeing a yellow M on a red background, and suddenly desiring a hamburger. Or something similar.

Advertising has a tremendous impact on our mental and emotional states. If we do not consciously acknowledge how we are being impacted by the media our society has become wholly immersed in, we are willingly throwing away our decision-making ability.

This grows more critical the farther into the future we gaze. Technological development and integration is growing exponentially. This means the ways in which advertisers can impact your thought processes is growing increasingly more potent.

How long until we no longer have anything resembling free will? It’s likely possible that a well-implemented artificial intelligence program can track your every move and predict future behavior. What do we do when our lives are completely planned by some hidden entity?

This is why I feel it is so critical to embrace our own agency. It is a skill like any other. The more we stay mindful and consciously make choices in our interests, the less others can make us make choices in their interests.