Brian Paul O'Neill

The way in which we perceive ourselves and others is largely constructed of symbols and abstract ideas. Several different things formulate these ideas, most predominantly what we hear, see, read, and feel. Because of this we have learned instinctually to process these sensory inputs by dividing and separating them into categories that are easily understandable, otherwise known as schemas. Because of this we are easily persuaded and manipulated through the media that targets our senses (TV, radio, music, magazines, people).

Since the early 1900's, the purchasing psyche of the American culture has been transformed. No longer is America a culture in which people purchase goods because of need. America has become a culture of competitive consumerism; where an individual's fulfillment are met. Once corporations learned that they could sell products by targeting our emotions instead of selling to our needs our culture began to change. Edward Bernays, an American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, played a large part in America's transformation into the consumerist society that it is today. Bernay's states, "Those who manipulate the unseen mechanism of society constitute an invisible government which is the true ruling power of our country. We are governed, our minds are molded, our tastes formed, our ideas suggested, largely by men we have never heard of." Propaganda was Edward Bernays main tool during the 1930's, 40's and 50's. Propaganda and Advertising are in many respects one in the same. Advertising in today's society plays a large role in how our minds are molded.

It seems our society has an infatuation with the idea of "the individual." We all want to be "an individual," as to say we want to be special, we want to be different. There are two problems with this idea. The first is that the idea of "the individual" as we know it does not actually exist. The second is that it is one of largest advertising and marketing schemes in history. Everywhere we look we are being bombarded with advertising that is targeting our emotions, telling us how we can be better, smell better, look better, feel better, and even be more like ourselves than we already are. This advertising has been consistently intertwined in our lives since before we even knew how to spell our own names. Knowing this it doesn't seem so strange that we perceive ourselves and others based on how they look and what they own, it is part of our culture, ingrained in our minds.

The things that we own manage to define us, but contrary to popular belief they are not who we are. This differentiation happens not through action but more simply through conscious attention. If we are aware of our relationship with the things we own, we can escape total material self-absorption.