Greg mentioned we’d all be eating bare-necessity foods, and putting around in fuel efficient vehicles if we only consumed products we need. He said that to make a point, but even that wasn’t completely correct. We only “need” food if we desire to stay alive, and only “need” cars if we desire not to walk.

There’s always those who say we need food, clothing, and shelter. This is not true at all. We only need food if we desire to stay alive. Some depressed individuals get so down they do not even want to eat, and will not do so if they are suicidal enough. Millions of human beings in past ages have waltzed through the rain-forest and other remote areas naked, and have lived for millennia. And many people have lived without a “home”, in the normal sense of the word. In fact, most forms of life on Earth do not live in “homes” of any kind.

I guess in a way you could say hunger is an unchosen desire, but as mentioned before, if you don’t desire to live, your desire to eat will go along with it. As for cars, I prefer walking, and if I could get away with it, I’d never ride in any vehicle at all. If there were teleporters which could get me from point A to B, I’d always use those before driving or riding in a car. And how many of us know of those who ride their bicycles around everywhere? Also, the desire to have a car presupposes a desire that the person wishes to go somewhere. If the person is satisfied at home, and does not think there’s anything “out there” for him to visit, the desire for a car will not be there.

Like Greg said in the article, it’s all about finding out what gives particular people pleasure, and what makes them “tick” on the inside. Why are they doing what they are doing? What do they believe will make them happy? What are their insecurities? It’s all about getting inside their head, and giving them their desires.

I think these same concepts this article is talking about are much deeper than just selling products. When we go to the movies, what movies we find appealing says a lot about us as and our desires. Girls who love “chick flicks” and romance, desire that themselves. Nerds obsessed with Star Wars wish to be Jedi warriors, and be powerful like they are, because they themselves are powerless. And then there’s all the High School movies, yet all these older people go and see them. Why is that? People wish they could go back to the “glory days” back in high school, back before they were trapped in some job they hate, and when they were free to just play sports, hang out with friends, and chase girls.

Some of these sorts of desires may even be unconscious. What a person finds “cool” or “appealing” is oftentimes found in unconscious desires and insecurities. People do not even know why they are attracted to this or that product.