A Picture Is Worth a 1,000 Words (& Millions of Dollars)

From the DI archives.  A while back I was researching the ways our brain processes messages in preparation for a series of messages I gave at a weekend youth retreat based on “The Matrix” movies. Here’s some of my reflections on our image-based culture. -JB

“What we’ve introduced at MTV is nonnarrative form…We rely on mood and emotion. We make you feel a certain way as opposed to you walking away with any particular knowledge.”

-Bob Pittman, founding chairman of MTV, quoted in Dancing in the Dark

As we try to become, as Greg Boyd calls it, “Detectives of our Minds,” we must step back and realize that the primary mode of messages we receive everyday come in the form of IMAGES. Your perceptions of the world — yourself, your friends, your values, your aims, aspirations and desires, your doubts, fears, and beliefs — are being most effectively shaped by the thousands of images you encounter daily, and how your brain interprets them.

For example, you probably don’t shop at Abercrombie & Fitch because of an article you READ on the superior quality and style of their brand. Rather, you have see enough commercials, magazine ads, billboards, and catalog images to convince you that this is what’s hot and desirable in fashion.

Or, consider how movie makers draw viewers out on opening night. They don’t use long, lengthy written reviews for viewers to read and decide it sounds good. Rather, they spend millions on action-packed, alluring “Movie trailers” that capture our imaginations with moving images to draw us in. What websites do we like to spend the most time at? Facebook, MySpace, and YouTube. Why? Because we love sharing images and watching videos more than reading some long, boring, tall guy’s blog post.  <wink wink>

We have moved away from a text-based culture to an image-based culture.