After viewing the TedTalks with Michael Shermer, I think it is interesting to point out how his skepticism uncovers the truth behind people’s belief in hearing “satan” in Stairway to Heaven, observing crop circles made by aliens, and the Virgin Mary on a cheese sandwich. Mr. Shermer seems to be a man of science who relies on facts, information, analysis, hypotheses, etc. in order to believe what is rational logic. But I think that he goes beyond his science roots to uncover these myths and hoaxes by pointing out human biases that cause people to believe in the unexplainable. For example, Mr. Shermer discusses how humans look for patterns as visual cues. This is a true bias in human behavior because that is how the brain functions. Humans categorize based on paradigms and other pattern-like linkages in order for the brain to organize thoughts and memories. This pattern seeking bias for categorization is seen in stereotypes. We lump people into similar groups to make it easier on our brains to recall the information. When something does not fit the pattern, our brains label it as different and therefore threatening because it is not like all the rest. The same thing goes for products and services. We as humans look for patterns so that we can easily identify products. I think this is the idea behind the Song airline designing the fusel lodge to look like a woman and her baby. People see the familiar pattern (however subconsciously) and want to fly on the airline. An example that comes to mind is the film Napoleon Dynamite. Netflix for the past couple of years has offered a million dollars to anyone who can design a movie database that will offer films that are similar to your choices; it is a “If you like this movie…you might also like these…” kind of function. But Napoleon Dynamite threw a wrench in the chain. What movies are like it? The film simply does not fit the pattern and so a helpful device like this in improving the customer experience could not easily be created.

Another bias I think that Mr. Shermer was alluding to in his discussion but never explicitly stated it is confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is a human behavior that confirms things only based on available information and information that supports the pre-existing beliefs or assumptions. Perhaps this can explain why people see the Virgin Mary in the window and cheese sandwich. The individuals who believe this to be a sign are religious people who confirm it to be true because their religious background confirms it. This is why people will sometimes dismiss products as being useless and of poor quality when they have no facts to support the claim. For example, Windows Vista is a product that is seen as being of poor quality because people used confirmation bias that it was a bad product. The Windows Mojave marketing program sought to debunk the myth by allowing customers to use the product under the guise that it was not Windows Vista. After the customers used the product and enjoyed it, they were shown that it was in fact Windows Vista. Understanding human behavior can help marketers to gain customer insights that will improve the products and services made available to the public.

Another point Mr. Shermer makes is when people are informed to look for something, their brain will always find ‘something’ even if there isn’t anything really there. He illustrates this with playing Stairway to Heaven backwards. When he provides the words, people automatically assume that the demonic lyrics are, in fact, present. I think this is a good insight to be cognizant of because it helps with when to disclose information about a product or service and when not to. The moment you provide too much information, people will look for it and find it with confidence that it is indeed fact. But leaving out the information lets consumers enjoy the product or service. It is the old cliché that what they don’t know won’t hurt them.