Apr 26 2010
Do you know that you are wired for worship?
To worship something means simply to magnify its worth. We are all like little telescopes set to magnify the worth of whatever we deem worthy of our worship.
Every single human being on the face of the earth is a worshipper. You worship whatever or whomever you believe will make you happy. If you believe that money and all that it can buy will make you happy, it is your god and you will worship it.
Have you ever noticed how people show off and praise their most valuable possessions? People who get a new car or new PDA or new cell phone or computer or stereo system like to show it off to other people. They like to praise the value of their purchase. They like to commend that same purchase to others in order to share the joy.
In essence, these people are saying, “You should worship money too. It really pays. Look at all this valuable stuff you can buy if you have it. You will be happy if you have it.” This is also the principle that good old American marketing is built on. The goal is to convince you that you need something in order to be happy (or happier). In order to do this, they try to convince you of its value. They must convince you that it is worth the time and effort it takes to obtain it. They resort to very interesting techniques in order to accomplish this goal.
Take beer commercials as an example. There is nothing inherently wrong with beer. There is nothing inherently evil about alcohol. Nevertheless, it is not really worth very much. If you like the taste of it, it may quench your thirst and it may thin your blood a bit (which can be a good thing). But what can it really do for you? Not a whole lot…unless you realize that this certain kind of beer will get the attention of the most beautiful women in the bar. Everyone knows that this is not true. No woman has ever looked around the bar and gone after a certain guy just because he bought such and such brand of beer. But for some reason, the add is effective because a beautiful woman can sell anything to certain men.