Reflections on the Challenge
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Experiences
T had noted the challenge's four stages: reading, remembering, doing, and noticing. Her main struggle lay in remembering to perform the actions, specifically raising her hand to her ear when encountering pseudo-scientific advice. She described an incident with a leaflet that promoted pharmaceutical products, which claimed to have won awards for boosting national trade and enhancing wealth. These products were marketed as beneficial for various life stages, using fear-mongering tactics related to health vulnerabilities during pregnancy, aging, and parental responsibilities for children's health. The products were paradoxically recommended for those in "normal health," which T identified as an oxymoron.
L had read George Galloway's speech upon becoming the MP for Rochdale, which portrayed himself as representing those who treasured the free rights that Britain had enjoyed since the Second World War, which L was not sure was entirely true. He also discussed the challenge of managing distractions, which similarly had their own allures that were helpful to identify, and these distractions often led him to overcommit. L reflected on how internal dialogues, like promising too much to oneself, could interfere with achieving one's goals, likening it to self-sabotage rather than external persuasion.
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Responses
N resonated with T's observation on fear-driven marketing, expanding on how these tactics are pervasive across different sectors. He shared his own experience with health products and the skepticism surrounding alternative health strategies like intermittent fasting. N stressed the manipulative aspects of commercial fear and its impact on consumer behavior.
T agreed with N's points, adding depth to the discussion of health and pharmaceutical marketing. She elaborated on the economic motivations behind such marketing, critiquing the superficial awards and the actual nutritional value of products.
L connected the theme of distractions to broader societal structures, such as the economic system that pressures individuals into a predefined path of education and employment. He suggested alternative pursuits like art, which provide more meaningful engagement and personal fulfillment.
Beelzebub’s Tales, Chapter 30
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Passage
Here I could not help interrupting him: ‘You don’t mean it?… But it’s not possible!… Has no one ever discovered that instead of Dover’s powder you give them this particular mess?’
‘Of course not,’ laughingly replied this good acquaintance of mine. ‘These things can be detected only by sight and taste; and this Dover’s powder which we make, however you turn it and under whatever microscope you examine it, is in color the same as it should be according to the genuine prescription of this Doctor Dover.
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Discussion
T thought the part about appearance being deceptive had a metaphorical implication of deceit and superficial qualities, akin to something looking good on the surface but being misleading underneath, like a cake covered with icing...
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Passage
He said, ‘This young man, this mania’s darling, with the pimpled face, studies at a certain university to become a specialist analytic-chemist, but there at the university he is bound to study those special books usually fabricated in Germany by “learned beings” there.’
… And really, my boy, among these contemporary Germans, especially during recent times, the invention of ‘scientific’ books in all branches has also increased.
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Discussion
L said that this was reminiscent of Tony Blair's policy of sending ever more young people to university. This meant it was necessary to have extra degrees and qualifications, and then new industries.
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Passage
After finishing the course, this young man then receives the title of analytic-chemist. Sometimes it happens that before receiving a responsible post, the young man happens to get “practice” consisting usually in this, that he serves for a certain time at a “slaughterhouse,” where he helps the local chemist, also a former mama’s darling, to ascertain with the aid of a microscope, in a certain way only known to themselves, whether the pork contains trichinae; and only later, when a place is vacant somewhere, is he appointed to the official post of analytic-chemist.
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Discussion
T thought that the reference to trichinae might be a metaphor for how corruption embeds itself within the fabric of society. T said that the quotations marks around the word "slaughterhouse" might be significant. N said it might be a euphemism. T said it was just an ordinary local chemist, but awful things were being done, animals being killed. N said the description of knowledge and learning might be a circular. A lot of things we used in life we just accepted as being gospel, because it came in nice packaging and we were told it was a trusted product like Dover's Powders. How much did we take remedies without questioning it? How many prescriptions? What prescribed behaviour do we take at that level? What "wisdom"?
