The Wall Street Journal, Marketplace section: The Emotional Quotient of Soup
Shopping. There it is! Evidence published in this bastion of the free market of the
RightBrain Revolution coming right to your kitchen pantry.
The article explains how the marketing of this American staple, soup, is changing
due to biometric analysis of consumer’s response to the label on the soup can.
That’s right! The change is not in response to the consumer’s preference for the
taste, the look, the texture or the content of the product but their reaction to the
label on the soup can. They’re using a new technique called neuromarketing to
determine what consumer’s are responding to on the soup can label.
Specifically, it seems that steam coming off from the bowl of soup has been
added to the picture on the new label for Campbell’s soups. Steam rising off
the soup makes it “seem” warm and the “feel” of warmth is more emotionally
engaging to the consumer. Campbell’s has also taken out the ubiquitous spoon
full of soup that historically hovered over the soup bowl. Research showed that
the spoon provoked little emotional response from consumers.
So what’s this got to do with the RightBrain Revolution? Well, remember that
our emotional responses are largely a function of right brain activity. The left-
brain is analytical and rational. The right brain is emotional and relational. And
the Campbell’s marketing gurus of their 1 billion dollar per year product, soup,
have taken a decided turn to the right brain. They’ve made their soup labels
more right brain friendly. They are hoping it will increase their sales by 20 million
dollars per year. Whoa, twenty million dollars, now that’s quite a benefit of the
RightBrain Revolution!
The health care debate has been raging for years. I’ve listened with considerable intensity to sort out what the issues really were. And I found myself going back and forth. On the one hand, I certainly want all to have access to affordable health care. It’s the compassionate and humane thing to do. I am proud that I live in a country that demonstrates this kind of concern for others.
On the other hand, I am concerned about whether we, by way of our federal government, can really afford to offer another entitlement. With skyrocketing deficits I fear that my kids and even my granddaughter will be burdened with stifling debt.
Of course this internal conflict is reflected in my daily life. I’m a psychologist who attempts empathy for all who choose me as their care giver. I’m some sort of bleeding heart with those whom I interact. But on the home front I guess you would call me a fiscal conservative. I try to live on a fraction of my income and I certainly don’t like anymore debt than is absolutely necessary. Continue reading →
Collective intelligence is what it’s called. The term is borrowed from economics. It refers to the notion that inventiveness and the rate of cultural change in a society is determined by the amount of interaction between individuals.
Collective intelligence explains why the rate of change in the previous agrarian period was so much slower than the rate of change in our modern urban culture. When living rurally there simply wasn’t as much interaction between people. And less interpersonal interaction means less innovation.
For many decades scientists and especially psychologists have studied creativity and intelligence as residing in the individual. We wanted to know how Picasso saw what he saw. Or what made Bill Gates the genius he is. We were curious about what it was about Oprah that she could reinvent herself and stay on top for so long. We were looking for their individual characteristics. Continue reading →
It happened! It had been anticipated for some time so it was really no surprise. Just as predicted computers are assuming more of our left-brain functions. A computer, Watson, is the best Jeopardy player in the world. A few years ago a Watson predecessor consistently defeated the best chess players in the world. With these events there is even more evidence that we are in the Right Brain Revolution.
Continue reading →
The right brain is the home to gratitude and therefore reflectiveness. That’s right! It is gratitude that is at the heart of reflectiveness. Parents can begin encouraging their kids to be grateful when they’re as young as two-years-old. This early gratitude is primitive and, to some degree, rote but it is gratitude none-the-less. And it is the beginning of humility because in gratitude is the recognition that we are not self-sufficient.
As children age gratitude is critical to the development of another right brain function – empathy. It appears empathy manifests between ages four and six and is another benefit of the reflectiveness. Empathy is the most powerful force on Earth and is the foundation of compassion and love. Continue reading →
Why did Moses wander in the desert for 40 years?
Answer: Because men don’t ever stop to ask for directions. Funny? Is there an element of truth? It does seem that men are more hesitant to ask for help. But why? Is it stubbornness or pride?
Thirty years ago, at the height of the woman’s liberation movement, I was probably the only man in America brave or stupid enough to be a co-therapist in a women’s consciousness raising group. It was my female co-therapist and me with a dozen co-eds looking to throw off yoke of gender discrimination.
It was a trying experience for me. Obviously a couple of the common feelings these women had were frustration and anger. Being the only man in the room I often experienced their displaced wrath. Continue reading →
Have you ever notice that yawning is contagious? It especially seems to be true when you are engaged one-on-one with someone. If they yawn you yawn. It’s often difficult to stifle your self from yawning no matter how hard you try.
We don’t exactly understand yawning. We certainly don’t know why it appears to be contagious. But what we do know is that there seems to be a direct correlation between the susceptibly to contagious yawning and our empathy with others. Yup, the more empathic you are the more likely you cannot resist yawning when your see another person yawn.
I know of a physician friend whose medical school classmates would simply write the word “yawn” on a sheet of paper and hold in up during rounds. He would involuntarily yawn. They got a kick out of it. He is a highly empathic doctor. And his empathy makes him particularly effective with patients.
The right brain is the neural site of empathy. The more we exercise the right brain the more the characteristics seeded there manifest in our lives. So as you consider living more from your right brain observe your susceptibility to yawning. In The RightBrain Revolution you should experience and we should witness a lot more contagious yawning.
Okay, so I’ve been writing about ways for everyday folks to access their right brains more frequently. I’ve encouraged meditation, listening to music, envisioning the “big picture,” and being more relational. And indeed all of these strategies will help. I’ve also encouraged creative and artistic efforts. Paint or write or draw or sculpt or do whatever is to your interest and passion but be creative. Creativity lies in the right brain and so to allow yourself creativity is to encourage right brain living. But you have to do it! You can’t think about it and wonder about it and do nothing.
I have an acquaintance, a very successful business woman, who has been bogged down with the left-brain demands of her organization and her career. She complained to me of mild depression, fatigue and “staleness.” She wasn’t having any fun in life and was frustrated. Then it happened. She bought some art supplies and began to “do” art. Her efforts at first, while fun, were challenging and the product of her efforts often unsatisfying but she persisted.
As she stuck with it she got better. Her art got better and so did she. Her mild dysphoria lifted and her energy level improved and she reported that she felt a new zest in everything she did. What she had done was to move to the right brain for some creativity, playfulness and fun. And in doing that she had rested and revitalized her left-brain.
Thinking about this right brain stuff is interesting, and considering how some day you’ll try to work it in to your life is hopeful, but nothing changes if you don’t do it. So take the leap, make the effort and, as the Nike slogan goes, “Just Do It!”
Live in the moment! Right now, in this moment, where you sit, whatever you are doing, all is fine. Not that there aren’t concerns and issues in your life but in this very moment you are fine. You may have wants and possibly even an unfulfilled need or two but, unless your survival is at stake and it’s likely not, you are okay.
Right brain living is about increasing the amount of time you live in the now. We all have regrets of the past and worries about the future but in the moment, nearly each and every moment of our lives, we are fine. Continue reading →
My graduate school training was over thirty years ago now. I was in a scientifically oriented program. Therefore much of the training was geared toward my left brain. Facts, figures, scientific method, research data and analysis carried the day. In the end my master’s thesis and doctoral dissertation had to make a unique contribution to the scientific literature in psychology. All of this is left-brain stuff.
However, three decades later I remember only the experiences and the stories. I vividly recall my own perceptual experiences of my graduate school experiences. But I also remember the stories that contributed to my training as a clinical psychologist. Continue reading →
