Rise of the Empathy Peddlers

 

You just so happen flip on the television set. With warts and all. It's the daytime and you are tired. Why not flip on the old boob tube? You notice something with your glazy eyes. A litany of shows that involve some figure giving advice to people's problems in their lives. A Dr. Phil like figure if you will. A theatre of drama that draws you in and makes it hard for you to look away. It's all there for a reason. It's all there by design. Programming.

Manipulating emotions through therapy like theater and entertainment has been a huge industry that seems to get bigger and bigger while inspiring others to copy and make even more manipulative content both on air and in the never ending feeds of social media. We are so keen on getting involved in other peoples' lives that we tend to shoo off our own problems no matter how big or small they may appear. These figure heads are part of a machine that projects that they care, but they are more about selling the human condition and manipulating consumer emotions. They are outrage and empathy peddlers eager to take a moral high ground while protecting the bottom line and profit margins. 

We just can't seem to take our eyes off the suffering of others even when we know underneath that is distorted and dramatized. 

It is the illusion of reality and empathy that can tend to manipulate the world we see and more importantly the way that we behave. The drama gets in our heads and we tend to project how we would act in a situation we see that unfolds on Oprah or even a Maury Povich type of spectacle. We think we know what is best, but look to the authoritative composure of the figure on TV. Out comes the gunky therapeutic advice that perks our ears and makes us feel. It gives us the feeling of empathy, compassion and sympathy. At least that is what we think. We are merely separated from the production and pomp and circumstance of it all. The grand old circus of human emotion. 

People projecting other peoples' problems on to other people. (It sells)

There's a reason that drama and Reality TV like programming sells, it caters to our voyeuristic and introspective tendencies. We project ourselves onto the people on the screen. We ride the emotions and think that we could do better. It may even make us feel better about ourselves. We watch the programming as we are being programmed. It's just enough to distract us from the drama that we mostly create in our own lives. A drama that we wallow in or try to resist at all costs. When we see a train wreck on television or internet, it tends to shrink the problems that we have been so sneakily avoiding. 

When we see someone carrying a bigger boulder on their shoulders, we tend to forget and get distracted from the weight we have been carrying all along. 

Manipulating emotions is a great tactic to get what the programmers want. It influences our perception and behavior. When you get a little taste of what these Empathy Peddlers tend to offer, we want more. We want to ride the emotional rollercoaster that has been nicely packaged and presented before us. It appears real, even if we know deep down inside that it is staged. Emotions are stories of what we feel. Stories sell and grab us in. It is the grand human experience to feel what we think others are feelings. It may even tickle us into thinking that we actually care. Do we actually care? Well, that's a question that is in desperate need of answering. 

Perception is reality and that is distorting. 

When we put out trust into a trusting personality that peddles out manipulative emotive tactics, we are complicit in what happens. It pulls on our heartstrings in a way that many others can't. It helps that most of the time there is emotional and dramatized music and crafty editing to really accentuate the pull of the Emotive Illusionist. They craft narratives and language to draw you in even if they need to bend the truth. 

Emotions are stories and stories pull us in and grab us. When we are emotionally drawn in, we are already hooked and sold.

Now, do these EPs provide value? That's a valuable question. They certainly add some type of monetary and entertainment value in its totality. If someone gets some type of entertainment value or emotional stimulus then it is has essentially done its job. Whether it be totally deceptive or dirty. If these figure heads give you value from their pseudo therapy tactics, then so be it. If anything it transforms you into a repeat customer that cashes in on each view. 

People that export emotional manipulation are in it for the long run. They use different tactics that cater to your insecurities and emotional vulnerabilities. They had spread in all aspects of marketing and manufactured social justice. Even if there isn't a real crisis, they can manufacture one. They control language to simply control the narrative. They reduce things to an essence that is more profitable in the long run. To think that we are in full control at all times rings mostly false. Are we easily angered? Are we easily triggered towards sympathetic words and images? You wouldn't want to be someone that doesn't "care" now would you? 

Emotions are energy in motion and many of these Empathy Peddlers want to commodify them and present them in some nice flashy packaging complete with an affordable price. 

So what now? Is there a path to salvation? Not really. And that's besides the point. The idea is to be aware how media and entertainment can manipulate your emotions at the drop of a hat. In fact, that's one of their main purposes. To control and get you to pay attention. Like a fight on the street, it's hard to divert our eyes from the drama playing out before us. The first key is recognizing the emotional manipulation. Now how does that make you feel? 

Don't fall for it. Focus on the emotional relationships of the people around. You know, the ones that you actually care about. The ones that care about you with little to no conditions. Does it matter how we feel when we are told how to feel? When we are all riled up? Check yourself. Check out all these bombarding images and stories affect our day to day. Sure they may tell you that should care about something in particular, but what is right in front of you? Listen to that. Observe that. 

What good has getting upset at click bait headlines or bite sized sound bits actually done for us as a whole?

As you are scrolling through multiple feeds, pause and reflect when something draws you in with emotional magnetism. Does it make you feel mad or happy? Is it worth your time to feel those emotions if they are trying to sell you something? Sometimes the content that look the least like advertisements tend to grab us and sell us more even if it's more emotion. Most of these Empathy Peddlers are deceptive illusionists. They manipulate with great intention. It's their job to draw you in and keep you emotionally hooked. Repeat tactics. Repeat customers. 

Now, how are you really feeling?

DG