on On Point (PRI i think)

food and choice

the selling atmosphere was so manipulative that any contract i signed while there is null and void

baking an apple pie and having that aroma present will help you sell your house for more

so where is free will the ones aggravated by this say

i, i suppose, never agreed with what they think free will is, or never believed in it in the first place

free will, therefore, may actually really be disappearing

to the point that i don't even wish or long to have it, or fear it leaving

i think that as they had mentioned, if given too many choices, people freeze

so you can be a person that either spends months researching how one house would be your best fit over another (as houses sell and pass you by all the while) and look at school systems and septic systems and new roofing and neighborhood crime proofing. and you can do this if you want to spend the time and the trouble. but is that the only way to find free will within yourself?

perhaps it isn't worth the trouble and so you decide that you'll decide on a house because of fate, a hunch, a feeling...

and thus, the apple pie helps sell a house to you.

and this is what those people are worried about. that marketing is way too advanced and we're eating in olive gardens and burger kings not because we like their food but because we're suckered by their marketing and restaurant design and feeling of familiarity.

and this doesn't seem bad to most people. but it is bad for those people that stand up and research and try to spend hours and years finding what they really truly like, but since most people are too lazy or just don't have the time, places like olive garden are taking over much much much to the chagrin to those who long ago formed their own very complex choices for what they liked.

they say therefore that quality is disappearing. but if most people don't care, then most people don't care. what's so good about quality. maybe most people don't have time to concern themselves with it anymore. just let them order a number 3 or a number 6. quality can be their favorite meal compared to the other nine that our country may soon serve. the only people affected would be those who spent trouble over the years finding their favorite 10 meals amongst 200,000.

but again, what's so great about quality. you'll forget why it mattered once it's gone. perhaps we'll start eating just for nourishment if the food gets bad enough and if the choices get so few.

but it's not about losing your free will. mcdonald's isn't tricking you into thinking you have free will when you really don't. when you get to pick from one of nine. when it's the only place to go, you go. or make your own. and if the general public gets bothered enough by it, they can go to an olive garden. and if a food aficianado doesn't like any of it, sorry. it's a free country but majority rules. and the market has convinced people that they don't care about quality. and once they're convinced, oh well. but did they lose their free will? the market catered to what they wanted. they want the feel of the restaurant and the familiarity of the taste more than the good quality. and so i'm wrong to say they're convinced they don't care about quality. rather, they really cared less about quality than other things, it turns out. (though somehow i feel like i'm missing the point and that i'll never understand.)

but it won't go as far as the critics worry. they always think that they should say that down the line if the current trend continues. current trends don't continue. not if they're going to end up at that horrible, unspeakable checkmate that you say we're headed for. you, critic, should just have a little less self-importance, realize that you see ahead of the curve, but trust that, as usual (i'm guessing), these kinds of things work out acceptably. (this paragraph was basically talking to just the one guest; i didn't like his personality, and so he gets an argument against his points, heh)

but, anyway, i still don't know what people think free will is. i agree we can be persuaded to do things we wouldn't normally do if in the wrong (or right) environment. approached by the wrong kinds of salespersons. charmed by the 'class' of a car dealership. but it's just our own faults it seems like.

or so far perhaps. maybe they see for real that soon we won't have the time or resources to try to make a decision with as little artificial influence as possible. but that's what i needed them to talk about. the whole time i was just angry because they'd point out information that is obvious (like a buying environment) but then not really get into the real dangers, if there are any. dangers for me at least. and i certainly don't think i'm above the average listener to this kind of station.

i guess the danger is that soon we won't be able to get the kinds of foods we want because everyone has been manipulated to think that burger king is good enough. and so burger king is all that's left. though that will never happen completely, i wouldn't think, but they did mention that in the south, grocery stores are all going out of business. and you have to go to a deli, and i don't know where they could get fresh produce. but i'd imagine there are certainly enough people that want to eat healthier and with somewhat more choice and so there will be that market for some people, and businesses will find a niche there. and so i really can't be worried. maybe the price will be too high to get fresh food, though. i guess i'll just take vitamins? plant a garden? eh. i'll let the gov't worry about it.