Every so often, I re-install a social media app to post a photo, message friends, find a saved recipe… and instead find myself scrolling endlessly.
Soon the scrolling turns into a number of tabs where I’ve got my finger hovering over the “add to cart” button. The crazy thing is how often the products (and implied problems) are something I’ve never put any real conscious thought into, yet I get sucked into the marketing hype all the same.
Life Experiments
I’ve put a lot of thought into designing experiments for my life. In fact, I have a whole host of unpublished blog posts about designing lil experiments to improve your life and tackle those too-nebulous soft skills. Maybe one day I’ll finally publish them.
And even if you aren’t intentionally setting up experiments, any hypothesis + action is essentially an experiment: if I buy this shirt, I’ll be happier with how I look. If I take this course, I’ll be more successful at my job. If I switch to this other hair product, my hair will look better. If I start this hobby, I’ll seem like a more interesting person and have more friends. You get the idea. You’ve got an implied problem, a hypothesis on how to fix it, and buying or doing the thing is how we test the hypothesis.
One of the defining characteristics of a good experiment is controlling for other variables. If our stated hypothesis is that more of ABC will result in a different XYZ, how do we know for sure that D, E, or F aren’t influencing things too?
Another big rule in statistics (used to quantify the results) is that you shouldn’t mistake correlation for causation.
Our experiments must be framed in such a way that we can be certain that ABC caused a different XYZ, not simply that the two things seem to coincide.
It’s like saying people who take more vacations are happier. Does “more vacations” result in happiness? Maybe. But maybe people who can afford to take more vacations are in a better financial spot and thus less stressed, in better health, and happier.
Anyway, I digress.
We all want to improve our lives, and preferably, we can do that with as little dogma as possible, while also not spending all our cash on quick fixes.
Social Media Ads Get Me Once Again
Let’s talk about stupid-but-alluring social media ads (particularly in the vein of health and self-improvement) and how we can get a lot of the same benefit from the product, without Adding To Cart.
Here’s a simple example: if I buy this water filter, harmful chemicals will be filtered out of my water, and I will be happier, healthier, with fewer mood swings, and better focus. It’s an investment in myself.
This is kind of the dream, right? It’s the idea that there’s one little thing you could tweak and bam, you’re now unfettered by the old, toxin-filled you, now suddenly able to achieve everything you dreamed of. Acne cured, crops watered, etc.
But back to this blog post: would this make a good experiment? Let’s imagine you bought this new filter, and eager to make use of it, drank 8 glasses of filtered water a day. And just like the reviews said: you feel great!
Maybe the filtered water system truly does solve all the problems for you, and takes out fluoride or whatever else.
But what if your previous self just absolutely sucked at staying hydrated? What if your baseline state was so unhealthy that literally any improvement would seem statistically significant? How can we be sure that the change wasn’t in the increase in general hydration, or simply reflecting on your health every day? The placebo effect shows up as real change.
Does a comparison of a consistent 8 cups of filtered water per day, vs 2-5 cups of unfiltered water a day tell us anything meaningful about how the filtration system affected your health? Was it a good experiment?
No.
(And besides, viewing the filtration system as the silver bullet that fixed everything just means that you’ll probably go back to dehydration when you’re away from home and can’t use the same system.)
In this example: start by drinking 8 glasses of water a day–from the tap–so that if you do decide to run the experiment, you haven’t fallen for the oldest statistics trick in the book (correlation vs causation).
You can always buy the fancy system later, and run it as a proper comparison.
It Doesn’t Stop There
Here’s some other examples
-
Will this new certification be what boosts your career, or is it just the thing that would give you enough confidence to start sharing your work (the thing that might actually move the needle)? Can you try that approach out instead?
-
Is this new fitness class life-changing, or is it simply the only time you get to relax and spend time on yourself? Can you give yourself a solid baseline of relaxation, (enjoyable) movement, and a feeling of progress in your life with or without the pricey fitness classes?
-
Is this new diet trend or supplement going to finally fix your gut issues? No doubt diet changes have fixed many health issues, but let’s not get the variables tangled up. Is it the diet/supplement that’s making you feel better, or is it that you aren’t restricting yourself, that you’re adding things to your diet to feel better (rather than just using diet as a means of control), or any other placebo effect? Does it give you more energy in the morning purely on its own or does it give you something to look forward to? Can you give yourself those mental boosts in other ways?
-
Did you truly feel a big improvement after removing [whatever possibly harmful thing] from your life, or is it one of the few times you’re fully listening to body and responding to feedback? We all know there’s real, harmful stuff out there (microplastics etc) but there’s also strong psychological effects in simply feeling empowered to help ourselves. Don’t let that become dogmatic, and stop you from considering other ideas.
-
Does that podcaster have great ideas, or is it just that their arguments are affirming to you in other ways? Or maybe they just have a calming Podcast Voice, or maybe it’s a social belonging thing (all your friends listen to the show and think it’s great…)
-
Is it that specific outfit that you need, or is it the confidence you’d get by having a trendy or brand name?
-
Do you need to go to that “viral” vacation spot, try that hot new restaurant, etc? Or is there a lack of fun and novelty in your life that could be addressed in a myriad other ways? Can you schedule in something fun this week, whether or not you book the vacation?
-
Will having kids be the thing that will give your life meaning? Not being a parent myself, I don’t know how truly wonderful parenthood is. But if you’re considering kids solely on the basis of “giving your life meaning”, consider that even if something seems almost guaranteed to improve your life, that doesn’t mean it’s the only option. Is the root of the issue that you want kids, or that you want your life to have more meaning? If it’s the latter, then the “experiment” of having kids might test the wrong hypothesis. Instead, decide that your life can mean whatever you want it to mean, and then show up for yourself, improve your life, and give it some more direction now, with or without kids. And if you decide to have kids, go into it with a life already bursting with purpose (and have it improve from already-great to even-better).
-
Same goes with anything else that plays on your feelings. What’s at the root of it? A feeling of lack, jealousy, FOMO, being unappreciated? Make sure you’re testing the right hypothesis in whatever experiment (intentional or not) you’re setting up.
I’m not trying to rain on anyone’s parade. Maybe your new diet, class, supplement, etc really is life-changing, but let’s not get fooled by the placebo effects (of doing any intervention instead of letting the problem fester). Or failing to consider that there’s other confounding variables and you can move the needle with a different approach.
And yes, sometimes, you do just need to do the thing, buy the gadget, remove the allergen, whatever. Sometimes it is the right decision to kickstart some positive momentum, even if you have to shell out some cash for it. In which case: Add to Cart, Sign Up, do what you need to do. You deserve a lil treat, gurl!
But the reason why these marketing tactics works on us is because we all know what the basics are in a given area (or can quickly search and find out), but the basics are boring. It’s easier to search for a silver bullet instead of doing the work of setting up a solid foundation, even if we know that logically, it would innoculate us from a lot of these poorly-framed consumeristic experiments.
May Your Experiments Run Well (Placebo or Not)
Next time you want to buy or do something, frame it as an experiment. Separate all the possible confounding variables (hydration, movement, time for yourself, emotional validation, etc) as things you can enact in your life for free. See that there are many things that add up to get the results you want.
Doing so will allow you have that placebo effect you’d otherwise get with a swipe of your credit card, just from a few minutes of self-reflection and planning. You can always buy the thing later (or just buy the damn thing now, I’m not your mom).
And of course, make sure you’re trying to solve the right problem in the first place. But that’s a story for another post.
