The Second Ted Talk
Every time I watch a Ted Talk, I am always left awestruck. They really are incredible. I was very engaged in this particular talk because it dealt with one of my favorite subjects: behavioral economics. The speaker stated that human behavior is incredibly susceptible to being controlled by outside stimuli. This may seem like mind control, conspiracy theory wackiness, but its not anything too crazy, he is just implying that subtle factors might have more of an influence than we think. My mind was literally blown when the speaker pulled out the Economist example. When offered an undesirable option, the vast majority of the sample selected the option that was predetermined by the author of the survey. I think this theory applies to Oedipus very well because of the prophecy. His family was warned what his outcome would be, but their efforts to avoid it were in fact what lead the predetermined events to happen. When Oedipus's parents hear of his fate, they exile him. It is because he is exiled that he fails to realize who his mother is. When he meets Jocasta later in life, he has no idea he is fulfilling the prophecy. Even though he thinks at the time that he is behaving of his own free will, he is in reality just acting out a long series of predetermined events. Behavioral economists are attempting to us a different kind of predetermination. They are trying to exploit the way they know the human brain will act in different scenarios. They are using the brain to sell their products. I just want to reiterate, my mind is frequently blown when I read or watch behavioral economics.
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