As the old saying goes “Today’s science fiction is tomorrow’s science fact.” (I don’t know if this is really an old saying, but it’s so apt that there is no way I thought it up – I must have heard it somewhere.)
As this article from the PLoS Biology website explains, scientists and economists are working hard to ensure the M.T. Anderson’s sci-fi device known as the “Feed” becomes tomorrow’s marketing reality.
Yesterday’s feed, mentioned M.T. Anderson’s book also called “Feed“. The Feed in the book is an all encompassing computer network that is implanted in everybody’s brain, transmitting, or “feeding”, a constant stream of intimately customized advertising messages to everyone on the planet. These messages react and anticipate the user’s feelings – “Hey, just get dumped? Check out these new cargo pants! They’ll cheer you up!” With a neural flash, users can purchase those cargo pants and rejoice in that fleeting consumer-rush we all get when we buy something new.
That orange blob in the brain on the left is that consumer rush. Scientists and behavioral economists are working together to find out how the brain reacts to economic stimulants – like discounted shoes, or sales on cargo pants. Right now they’re working with monkeys and juice rewards, but that’s only a few Boxing Day sales away from getting this info into the hands of WalMart execs.
This sort of teaming up between scientists and economists isn’t new but they are starting to make some big discoveries in determining how our brain works and why we buy – and it’s more effective than chocolate bars at the check out or those stupid ads for crackers on the supermarket floor.
The Feed is coming and this is its ultrasound. Get ready to resist – unless, of course, you actually need a new pair of cargo pants.
