Chapter 4 - Post #2

In Chapter four under the Psychology of Deception, I found it very interesting that the majority of the time we think we understand something, we acually "get the facts wrong more often than we think we do." (pg. 69) We get them wrong in predictable ways too such as wishful thinking and we allow ourselves to understand what we want to understand and disregard the facts that go against our beliefs.
Something I also found interesting in the text was that over-hyped crimes and tramatic events sprawled all over the media make us feel like things are worse than they actually are. The example that I liked in the book was on page 70 where some crimes were exposed in the media and it forced viewers to jump to conclusions that crime rates are high and criminals are running around everywhere, however, the reality was crime rates were down thirty eight percent from 1991 in 2005. This reminded me of the example I made in class where my step-brothers and step sister believed that all American schools experienced a shooting of some type because the media hyped them up, however, the in retrospect to the amount of schools in the USA, there weren't a large number of them.
All in all, this chapter showed me that the brain deceives us into what our subconcious wants us to think and feel even if that feeling isn't right or correct in reality.

Chapter 3 - Post #1

In Chapter three, I found it very interesting that propaganda plays into almost every single part of life. The example of a "tall" coffee being not very tall at all is a prime example that before you order your $8.00 coffee at Starbucks, you expect to get a decent amount of coffe for what you're paying. However, you really aren't getting all that much and "the man" is laughing in the faces of the consumer and he is walking off with full pockets.
Another thing I found very interesting is that language shapes what we do in our world. Flowery words and nice sound advertising draws a consumer in very easily if the consumer is not aware of what is actually happening to them.
Another example of a "play on words" is the example on page 45 where the author is talking about the seven different sizes of olives. Now, in the "normal" world a size large is usually considered a pretty big size. In the olive world, apparently, it is the third smallest size the company offers.
I experienced the use of "weasel words" last night at the Exton Mall. There's a jewelery store in the mall that is closing and there are tons of brightly colored signs that say "UP TO 70% off EVERYTHING MUST GO." However, many of the things in the store were still very very expensive and I didn't really see anything that was priced low enough to purchase.