Pleasure

The recent re-introduction of telly into my life has led me to become reacquainted with adverts, and subsequently with with a sensation that (perhaps subtler) internet advertising doesn't induce: the wonder at who it appeals to. The latest occurrence of this sensation was brought about by an M&S Valentine's advert. Usually M&S do a half decent job of making their food seem appealing, but this meal just seemed tacky, plastic and artificial. Perhaps this was deliberate, perhaps people actually want to eat shiny pink food on Valentine's day because it makes them feel romantic. I looked at the whole package and got acid indigestion in anticipation. As I say, this was not what I expect from M&S, I'd expect something a bit more upmarket, which makes me think the whole package had been dreamed up by a focus group. Someone had done some research and decided that when it comes to romance, the great British public love it good and tacky. I just don't buy that, I just don't think that's what people want. They may have been convinced it's what they want, but I don't believe it is actually what they want.
I recently had a conversation with a friend which they took to be about taste as a learned behaviour. Of course, we both agreed that what we like to eat, wear or put on the walls of our flats is in some part influenced by the things we have been presented with at various stages in our lives. However, he argued that there is a limit to the environmental influence; that people are naturally predisposed to like or dislike the things that exist at the extremes of their taste spectrum. On reflection, I am more inclined to believe we have inherent absolutes, although I think our inheritance of them is as much behavioural as it is biological. However, the point I was really getting at was that it appears to me that it is not just the fact that we learn to like the things we like, but that 99 percent of the time it is solely the fact that we have chosen to like them that makes us like them. To put it another way, we decide to like things despite the fact that we don't actually like them. This is why advertising is so effective: because our willingness to participate in an activity that we see as desirable overrides our perception of whether or not we actually enjoy it. How else could one explain so many people claiming to like football?
I'm a pleasure seeker of sorts, at least I want to enjoy my spare time, so I want to make sure I fill it with activities I genuinely enjoy. To that end I'll try anything once. It's the only way I'll stumble across something I genuinely like.