The psychology behind the repetition of anything makes us reach the ‘hook’ point

Repetition is an important aspect of our daily lives. All of us repeat certain things on a daily basis. But do you ever wonder what repetition can do to our brain? Repetition is a superpower possessed by us humans, and upon a conscious realization of this power, we can perform wonders. As a matter of fact, subconsciously all of us are witty and clever enough, and we sometimes, use this power unknowingly. Here are some interesting examples for you to check out:

The Nagging Child, The Nagging Spouse (the legendary icon)

Most children are evil enough (no offence) to know that if they repeat a request often enough to their parents, their parents will eventually give in. Some of us never outgrow this habit of repetitive persuasion, only to become the nagging spouse, the extra-cheesy and sweet-slash-extra-pathetic and annoying, yet legendary icon.

I know how to train my dog!

Ivan Pavlov, a Russian physiologist, discovered a way with his dogs, a way to condition them by the repetition of a cue or a trigger and connecting it with a selected action. This can be a colour, a shape, a tune or a host of other things.

Advertisers work on the same principle.  Yep, that’s right. Humans are no better than dogs.

The brutal purpose behind the consistent repetition of adverts-in almost every single place inside the print and the electronic media world-is to make us psychologically function like dogs. Sounds harsh, but it’s true.

What I mean to say is what the advertisers want is that when we go to the market, the feeling or the thoughts that were evoked upon repeatedly seeing a particular advert, gets revoked upon seeing the product. This happens because the advert is repeated to our brain multiple times, and we begin to associate the feelings that aroused from a particular emotion, theme, colour, shape, tune or story that was present in the ad, with the product.

Some music; and some dance baby!

The technique of using repetition and pattern making to our advantage is often used by music-makers and dancers. Beats, stanzas, steps-all of it-is repeated in almost all forms of dance and music. And the audience always loves it, because our brain is a crazy lover of patterns and of the concept of being in a routine. Also, the repetition in music and dance has a hypnotic effect on us, that is the only reason why we feel ‘lost’ and go in a trance-like state when we’re in the middle of listening to our favourite tune or slow dancing with our beloved partner.

Back to School: Time to study the same thing...again.

Schools and educational institutions use the principle of repetition by teaching or testing the same topic more than once. Students themselves are willing to study a topic more than once, because they feel that it would help in better retention and would last longer in their memory.

‘Practice makes perfect’

The age-old phrase ‘Practice makes perfect’ emphasis on nothing but the significance of repetitive practice. If we repeatedly practice a particular skill or activity, our brains get used to it. For example-walking in heels-an activity that needs to be practiced before we can get good at it. (At least I think it does.) So basically, when we repeatedly practice something, our brain gets used to it, and we sometimes get good at it, which leads to self-motivation and further persuasion to continue that practice. That is how we develop hobbies.

The basic principle behind repetition, how it works and why it is so effective is that repetition leads to familiarity, which makes that repetitive pattern more understandable or known to our brain, which leads to the embedment of the pattern inside us. Because of that, we tend to either like or appreciate that pattern; or we are simply unconsciously convinced or persuaded to follow the pattern in the future. Repetition always leads to more liking than contempt. That is why the repetition of a particular pattern can make us feel ‘hooked’ to that pattern.

Those who are consciously aware of what repetition can do, can use it to their advantage. Pretty interesting, right?

 Copyright © Upasana Goyal 2016

Strive not to be independent, but to be interdependent

The Oxford Dictionary defines interdependence as the ‘dependence of two or more people or things on each other.’ But most of us today fail to realize the significance of this term or its necessity in our lives.

When a kid is born, she has no clue of the world around her. So she is raised in a way that is supposed to empower her in every way, in order to help her grow into a refined individual. She is spoon fed almost every single thing-food, information, knowledge, money and other material things that would help her grow. As soon as the child reaches the stage of adolescence, the sole motive of growing up into a rational and a strong human being translates into the motive of being independent as soon as possible. But the most dangerous part of that phase comes when, and if, the urge of being independent becomes an escape. When this happens, we tend to see independence as a stage where life is easier, and we begin to associate the feeling of happiness and fulfilment with it. But the truth is, our lives just cannot get any easier or happier by trying to derive happiness from external sources of any sort. Human beings are a type of species that can never be completely satisfied, and the desire of being in a hypothetical phase in the future with one hundred percent fulfilment can never be completely satisfied. We will always want more and more to feel fulfilled. Human urges, desires and temptations only increase if the previous ones are satisfied. This is a natural tendency of our species. When we begin to associate the idea of independence as a futuristic escape for happiness and fulfilment, we usually tend to get dissatisfied with our lives in the present. This leads to either a life of self-doubt, uncertainty, resentment or hatred towards oneself. Any negativity of the sort stops us from achieving our goals in the present, and leaves us with the option of creating our future in the future, which is impossible. This is quite ironical, because nurturing such negative emotions within ourselves makes us more and more dependent on the people around us. We begin to question ourselves, which usually leads to the inability to make our own decisions, and so we eventually lose control on our lives in both the short and the long term. We begin to get controlled by our insecurities, or simply by the fear of the future. Some people go to extremes to quench their desire of achieving this stage of independence and fulfilment. They go through a mid-life crisis, create a huge gap or delay in their relationships, or simply move out of their marriages and abandon their relationships. Or worse, they could even resort to crimes or commit suicide.

One must realize that in order to achieve the stage of overall development, all of us must abide by the principle of interdependence for living a happy life. Believing in inter-dependence means to be self-aware enough to understand that there is strength to stand on our own, but there is also a greater strength on relying and depending on others along with that. Developing strong relations with the people around us, and a healthy co-existence is important; it helps in the overall development of the individual as well as a community.

So today, I send this message to all the young and the ambitious people out there. Let go of the desire to settle. Let go of the desire to settle with your narrow idea of what you call a happy, fulfilled and an independent life. It will only lead you astray. Life could be much bigger and better than that. Work towards your goals, but only to depend on one another, and to empower and uplift each other. That’s the real quality of a winner. She never settles, or buys the idea of ultimate perfection or fulfilment. Moreover, she is quite aware of the fact that she is a winner, not only because she wants to be, but also because that’s what the people around her think she is.

“You will never be entirely comfortable. This is the truth behind the champion – he is always fighting something. To do otherwise is to settle.” – Julien Smith.

Copyright © Upasana Goyal 2016