Not So Great Expectations

What do you expect from an article about expectations? Hopefully not much... other than some really neat philosophy that is!

Expectations play a major part in our lives. Probably far greater than most of us realize. Somewhere along the course of our existence a ludicrous amount of expectations are implanted into us. Some of these come from formal systems of thought such as religion and art, while others spurn from social interaction and advertising. One could quite easily write a book about the various ways we become entwined with expectations but that is not the purpose of this post.

Rather I would like to take the opportunity to look at expectations and their relationship with pleasure. It is clear that there is a definite link between the two. If ones expectations are met or exceeded there is usually some form of pleasure felt. On the other hand if ones expectations are not met there is usually some form of negative emotion invoked.

One of these negative emotions is anger. If you buy a new DVD player and it doesn't work you will get angry. It doesn't matter if you brought a region 1 DVD player when all your DVD's are region 2, what matters is that you expected your DVD player to play your DVD's. So at first your anger will be directed at your DVD player but then when your realize that it was your mistake you may redirect your anger upon yourself or to the sales-assistant who assured you that it would work with region 2 DVD's.

But maybe you don't get angry. Maybe instead you become disappointed and maybe this leads to serious depression. The point is that when expectations are not met some form of negative emotions usually consume us and obviously this is a relative process – the higher ones expectations and the less they are met the more negative the reaction.

I'm sure almost everyone has been in a situation when they have received test results back and have been rather pleased with their mediocre pass, only to hear how disappointed someone who got 89% is that they didn't get over 90%.

Now if one wanted to make some kind of meta-claim it could be, “Expectations are the root of all evil”. This might be a bit extreme but hey all meta-claims are. Anyway it is fairly safe to say that if you want to enjoy life more lower your expectations.

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Lighter/Erotica

You don’t think lighters are erotic? Well then you obviously haven’t read this.There is nothing more erotic than a man and his lighter. Oh, the sweet feeling of plastic against flesh as one thrusts upon the button causing the flint to grind, climaxing in a burst of fire. If you’re like the rest of us these thoughts probably don’t go through your mind, as you light up a smoke, at least not consciously.

According to psychoanalysts, however, this is what happens in our unconscious. Don’t dis it too quickly, because Ernest Dichter will tell you (if he was still alive) “it has been proved beyond any doubt that many of our daily decisions are governed by motivations over which we have no control and of which we are often quite unaware.”

Dichter, the father of motivational research, took Freudian psychoanalytical concepts to the advertising industry. Even if you think it’s a load of horse shit, psychoanalysis is being used in adverts to penetrate deep into your psyche. But now back to lighters.

Dichter believed that the main reason we use lighters is to feel powerful. Going far back into the history of man, our triumph over the elements, the ability to command fire has always been seen as one of our crowning achievements. The lighter provides modern man with the training wheels version of fire starting.

The very fact that a lighter is so quick and efficient enhances this feeling of power. However, if a lighter fails it frustrates us because we cannot accomplish our need for a feeling of mastery and control. Of course it wouldn’t be psychoanalysis without throwing in some sex, thus, the lighter is fused unconsciously with the idea of sexual potency.

So, whenever a lighter fails to work for you, you are experiencing something similar to impotence. Think about that the next time you light up. Oh, and plus this basically means smokers are people who feel weak in life and smoke to overcome this (unless of course they are into lighting their cigarettes by rubbing two sticks together).

Note: The preceding argument was based on one by Ernest Dichter in The Handbook of Consumer Motivation and The Strategy of Desire.

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Return of the Pac

It's an article that psychoanalyses Pac-Man... that can't be good… but then again what can? Oh, and you can also play it.
Pac-Man was originally released in Japan in 1979 with mixed reception. In 1980 it was released in America and became an instant social phenomena. This surprised everyone in the industry. In fact the game was completely overlooked at a trade show prior to its release. So what exactly was it about this game that made 1980’s culture latch onto it. Here’s a summary of Arthur Asa Bergers’s analysis:

It’s a Maze:

Space Invaders was set against the infinite background of outer space, whereas Pac-Man is set in an isolated maze. At the time the American economy was in recession and this suggests that people felt trapped with few possibilities.

Childish Violence:

Before the Pac, game violence was dominated by masculine shooting style violence (Space Invaders, Asteroids). But the Pac chose to bite his opponents, clearly real men don’t bite – that’s something kids do – hence, Pac-Man utilized a feminine/childish form of violence.

Berger suggests that this reflected a fear of growing up and mature interpersonal sexuality. And guess what the 80’s are known as the most hedonistic period of recent history.

Dog-Eat-Dog:

Berger sees Pac-Man, which he calls “a game in which a dot eats dots”, as a metaphor for capitalist society. The world has become very small and there are no new frontiers to discover. Society is captive in a maze; in this situation we can either work towards the collective good or try to maximize things for ourselves.

Berger believes that Pac-Man reflects a change in the American psyche to a dog-eat-dog mentality. People are focusing upon themselves and “how many dots they can gobble”.

So in conclusion the popularity of Pac-Man came at a time when economic recession was causing many people to feel trapped due to a lack of opportunities, and fortunately Pac-Man was a game that offered a metaphorical escape for two of the most prominent solutions to this problem: 1) Remain a child 2) Go out into the world and crush your opposition.

Note: Arthur Asa Berger is a Professor at San Francisco State University. Clearly not a moron, the preceding summary, however, was written by one. So before complaining to Berger check his argument out for yourself in Making Sense of Media.

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