THE COMMERCIAL NATURE OF THE HUMAN MIND

I was at a supermarket one day trying to locate the items I had on my list and I noticed two pretty girls standing right across me doing the same, but ‘gisting’ (chatting) and laughing in the process. I could tell they were close friends from their body language. I overheard the slightly taller girl trying to convince the other one to accompany her to a party that was to hold in a week’s time. She was already pumped with excitement, but her friend who was 10 marks prettier, wasn’t really interested. This one kept looking for reasons not to go and focused more on what she came to buy than on what her friend was talking about.

After much push, the taller friend began talking about how nice it would be to attend the occasion with someone just as pretty as herself to give the guys a feast for their eyes. Then she said something to her friend that made me giggle because I knew what she was now trying to do…“How do you expect to forget your ex if you don’t increase your popularity”? The prettier one answered; “I don’t care”.

The taller one said “Oh but you must care. Everyone got so used to seeing you and him together everywhere. You hardly went anywhere public without each other. If you want to move on you need to re-introduce yourself to the world as ‘single’. And what better way to do it than to be seen socialising without him nearby. A party is the best place to start!” The other girl slowed her pace and her eyes lifted from her shopping list to her friends’ face. Now she was in interested. Well, at least, enough to give her friend a glance. Do you know what she said next? “Okay, okay…I’ll come then. But I will only stay for an hour then we are leaving”. An aggressive hug from the taller girl followed!!!

Did you notice the change in mindset? You see, the tall girl finally succeeded at buying her friend’s approval to go with her to a party because she had offered something that was important to her reluctant friend. She convinced her to go because she was able to show her what she would gain from it. Her friend had just had a bad break up and needed a new start - a welcome distraction. She needed something to help her move on. This would appeal to her and her friend knew it.

The decision to do or not do certain things depends on a queue of circumstances. However, of all, one that remains constant in influencing options we take is the “Me factor”. “What about me?” “What do I have to gain from this?” “How will this affect me?”

People are controlled by the possibility of benefit. It pressures the choices of some, patterns the mentality of others, and determines the actions of many more. What group do you belong?

You know, there is the tendency for the image of money to always show up in minds whenever the term ‘buy’ is mentioned. Nevertheless, that’s not what I mean in this context. It isn’t strange to say that people can be bought. Already we have understood that it isn’t the normal ‘money purchasing’ kind of buy. It just depends on what you are buying them ‘with’ or what you are being bought ‘with’.

The practice of trade has been in human blood for centuries, when trade by barter which I call “acquisition by exchange”, was the popular practice of commerce, as money didn’t exist then. Lordships in Europe and traditional Kings in Africa used such forms of barter to cement inter-regional relationships; by way of giving their daughters out in marriage to worthy personalities in appreciation for favours done. That’s a form of commerce; trade. It still exists in our century. Its presence is so silent that it has become somewhat unconscious…transiting from one aspect of relationship to the next without being noticed.

Simply put, you trade one experience for the benefit of another.

The human mind is a complex one…as complex as the realities of life that engage it. So, most definitely, we aren’t discussing “a trip to the super market, a shopping trolley in hand and a selection of items on the purchase list; then, payment for purchase over the counter”. No, we are not.

We are discussing dreams, interests, inspirations, motives and desires that instigate people to choose to do certain things or allow certain things be done to them.

You see, the mind is fascinated by what appeals to its owner. The brain is what you see. The mind is what gives the brain perspective in the same way the soul gives the body ‘life’. What you like, what you are driven by affects how you choose between options A and B. It could be money, favour, the vision of bright prospects, outsmarting others, the list is endless.

Many times we become involved in situations either because we opt to make them happen or because we allow that they happen to us; most probably since we feel there is something to gain. We condone experiences or engineer experiences hoping to profit. This describes the acquisition by exchange concept I mentioned earlier. Choosing to put in something, hoping to receive something in return can be likened to ‘trade by barter’.

Yes, it is in human nature to be selfish. That, we already know. But what we may not have considered before now is that, this may in fact be an indication of ‘the commercial nature of the human mind’.

Here are some illustrations to better explain. A lady wouldn’t date a guy if his manner of chase didn’t flatter her or if she wasn’t convinced that the potency of benefit was eminent if she accepted him. This ‘potency of benefit’ could be love, companionship or diversely, to show off to her girlfriends, materialistic acquisition or money!!!

Next, you wouldn’t patronize a corporate organization if you didn’t see how its offers would profit you greatly. Finally, you wouldn’t decide to work for people or establishments if the working conditions didn’t promise to somehow favour you.

We become predictable or even gullible when possibilities surrounding options that crowd our lives daily match our ultimate desires. We become easier to deal with by others when it appears they have what we like, what we want. Some people choose to be or remain in the company of others basically because of what they are gaining or what they hope to gain. For some it could be happiness, peace of mind; for others it could be connections, popularity, material gains, intellectual empowerment and financial growth and so on.

Isn’t this what makes advertising and public relations very effective? Consider this: the better the picture, the higher the attraction. This implies that the more beneficial the ‘concept for sale’ appears to our tastes or the more in tune it is with our different interests, motives, goals, dreams, and desires, the higher the chance of us cashing in. We ‘cash in’ in numerous ways - by giving our presence, support, money, friendship, assistance, love, participation and even effort.

Everything we do or avoid doing; the attachment we have with things and people, as well as the distance we keep from certain things and certain people are all influenced by how each of us views the possibility of our benefit in all of it.

Here is the catch: anything being proposed must be something that the mind of the reading eye or listening ear is greatly appealed by in order to make him decide in favour of it.

Now I have to stop this here and start preparing for a seminar I convinced my cousin to also attend, on the grounds that she’d meet potential clients that could invest in her business…lol. Now, isn't that a food for thought! :-)