Addicted To F**k It

REVERSE PSYCHOLOGY

A clever way to get someone to do what you want is to use a technique called reverse psychology. This is a clever way to get the unsuspecting other party to take on a task that they perhaps wouldn't have done otherwise. 

This sneaky kind of technique works especially well kids - it also works particularly well on me. I suspect the reason it works so well on me is because, like a child, I don't like being told what to do! So, if someone says 'I bet you can't do...' - there's a high chance that I'll do it. And if someone says 'you're mad if you do that, you're not 25 anymore, you could really hurt yourself' - It makes me want to do it more (Magavalanche is one recent example). 

Thing is, I really don't like being told that I can't do something but even more so, I don't like when others have been conditioned and therefore fearful or miss-informed - and they try and tell me I can't do something. So, time and again I will rebel to show them what can be possible. 

Sometimes, I know what I'm doing is wrong and potentially harmful - yet I do it anyway. It's this phenomena that I have identified as the 'F**k it addiction'. So it's not necessarily the activity or action itself where the enjoyment part is - but the rebellious aspect that I get a buzz from. 

I witnessed this trait in my best friend (us rebel types tend to stick together) last night when talking about the perils of smoking. He wants to get fit and yet he smokes - and has done so for 20 years. There's enough evidence to suggest that smoking can cause illness and also, affects heart & lung function - so best to avoid it if we want to get fit and increase probability of living to 100. Yet, when I mentioned giving up, he used his drinking/smoking nan (97) as an argument in defence of smoking and defiantly pulled another ciggy out of the box. On the packet was a picture of some poor soul with throat cancer and SMOKING KILLS printed in large bold type. If this message is supposed to deter people, it clearly isn't working for my friend. This, I believe is because he's a rebel. And that's why I tend to hang out with smokers - because they are the ones saying F**k it - and this is what they are silently saying every time they smoke!

Clearly, the tobacco companies know that their target market are rebels and although the government thinks this clear warning message is doing the job it needs to do - there's still a lot of smokers out there. 

So, in order to really get the right message across to these rebels, we need some other facts and messages to deter them. Therefore, I suggest we put out a message something like this: 'We get you addicted to the idea that you are being rebellious to make us rich - you are a mug' then smaller underneath - 'Smoking makes your breath and clothes smell, is an expensive habit which means you are a weak pussy if you can't give up. Why not find something else to spend your hard earned cash on....and it may mean you live longer too.' 

I'd be really interested to see one of those packets out there - I really think this truth will hit home a lot harder than the current message that has no impact with deterring my rebel friends.