And now, to the final chapter of this article series where I promote the evolution of mankind through social technology.

This time around, I think I may get into the realms of science fiction. Or, at least, it seems that way sometimes. If the purpose of science fiction is to dream the future, then those dreams are popping up in the real world.

Because, with this spreading idea of interconnectivity on a cultural level, we are seeing its oddball adaptations along with its more expected ones.  

Where once was simply communication for the sake of learning and socializing, groups, like all good cells in a larger mass: specialized.

Uber and Lyft showed you can use the urge for people to help— along with a monetary incentive—and circumvent the old systems. Asking a question and getting an answer is the power of the collective search engine, and now more and more the same could be said of any request.

“Who wants to buy this?” “Can I get a ride?” “Who wants to party?” “Let’s go out on a date.” “Let’s hang out.” “Get drinks with me.” “Let’s play a game.”

All of these, if a person is willing, now have avenues to answer them. No need to search around town if you are without an option: ask the void and it echoes down the connected lines with usually at least someone willing to answer.

Amazon, the megastore of the new generation, plays on this idea. No more shall we struggle to find some product we need, now we only have to make the request with cash and it is brought—often cheaper than another way.

Some may call this lazy. I call it the future. As long as we can find bigger problems (and the world certainly has them), then we can use all the labor-saving we want--as long as it does not contribute to those same problems.

And, though it may seem like fanciful thoughts from the futurists and the dreamers, I believe we will see a country where we can all live connected and help each other by our connections.

One man or woman can walk the sandy beaches of Clearwater and broadcast the beautiful sunset, and then when it gets dark, begin a party that everyone knows about and all find impromptu new social interactions at. The ones unable to drive, driven by others. Food delivered in mass at a whim. And anyone who cannot attend still can be there in digital and treated like they are there in the flesh.

That doesn’t even sound like the far-flung future anymore.

It sounds like 2016.

And that, at the end of the day, is what I can promote. A culture of people. Not of class. Not of exclusivity. Not a monolith corporation. But people. Helping and creating and celebrating with other people.

I can promote it wholeheartedly.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com  

Let me pose to you a hypothetical situation.

Let’s say, in the middle of Cleveland Street, where the Farmer’s Market sometimes shows up, there was a large box which had a door facing you and seemed made of simple materials. And next to it was a few people with banners telling you to go in for a moment.

Now, of course, if this was a real thing, you might be discouraged or untrusting of such a situation—but, let’s say for the sake of discussion, you did decide to go into the box for a minute.

I realize this is a long analogy. Stay with me here. I have a point to make.

So, once in the box, you see a few buttons, and they all make interesting sounds when you press them. Press a few more and a screen shows various entertaining images and pieces of artwork.

And then, once you’ve pushed the button a few more times, it tells you that after five more, the box will let you see and hear even cooler things, and will give you a prize.

So you do. And it supplies. And for a moment, the whole experience is awesome. But, around comes promises of even more interesting things if you continue.

And after a while, you’ve lost your entire day to this box.

Because that was the point.

Sounds like a massively weird thing, right? Yeah, well, it is. But it is also the main draw of certain video games. They go about marketing the game as a way to sink hours and days.

Bejeweled is an entertaining box. Candy Crush is an entertaining box. You put time in more and more because on some level it satisfies a basic want and need to feel like you accomplished something.

A need we all share.

And perhaps the biggest and greatest example of this done to a tee is the nerdy staple: World of Warcraft. A game world full of people all playing and fighting and exploring, wrapped around so many boxes it’s scary.

This sort of action is often called “grinding” (and no, that is not a dance move) and consists of doing the same few actions a lot, like killing monsters--and getting marginally better and more efficient at the task over time.

It’s the same appeal as practicing a skill, only you get to be a powerful wizard instead of learning to juggle.

And I am not bemoaning that this is a thing. I do not disparage my gaming brethren for enjoying this. I, too, at one point, enjoyed the grind. But what I am saying is, a lot of marketing work went into that particular trick, and it is hard to break out of for certain people.

Which is yet again what the creator wants. Because it is the dream of every business under the sun to have customers who keep coming back.

Now, this doesn’t work for all things. And must not be used without any thought or reason or ethics—but it is a tool nonetheless.

And one video games have already mastered.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Welcome to a normal day.

An advertisement comes on for The Home Depot. A promo shows up on your social media account for Nature’s Food Patch on Cleveland Street. A billboard sign for Chick-fil-A passes by as you drive into Tampa.  

Go to Countryside Mall and you will see a thousand advertisements and tons of shops all selling things.

Movie trailers before the actual movie.

Coupons. Deals. “Buy one, get one free”.

So far, so standard. Our country: saturated in the many ways it wants you to spend your money.

But, beyond the normal understanding of the consumer culture of America, there is a deeper layer.

Because, as most marketing and advertising executives would tell you: these sort of things are targeted. They have a specific type of person in mind. A certain type of individual in mind.

Advertising is tailored. Market data gives a basic idea of what a person would like. And, in the end, they are advertising along population, cultural, economic, and gender divides.

Ever wonder why all beer advertisements seem to have the same basic person in them as the “main character”? An average looking guy, between twenty (if they want to seem trendy) and thirty (if they want to seem down-to-earth), who is around gorgeous girls who—for some reason--are attracted to him more when he has a beer in his hand?

As a side note, if it is “refreshing” or somehow “light” they will often be on a beach or an outdoor club. This allows the bonus points of being able to contextualize why the women and men are in skimpy clothing—which adds sex appeal into the narrative.

Now, what does this all break down to? Well, they want a person of around middle class who is a heterosexual male to buy the product. Or, perhaps, a female—depending on how it’s presented.

Now, this isn’t necessarily bad. It can kind of be ethically concerning...or, at least, a public relation danger—but it is the nature of products to have a certain group in mind.

Adidas wants young urban adults. Gerber wants mothers. Gatorade wants sports players.  

And McDonald’s and Apple and Google and Disney wants every single person in the world.

It is how companies make money. They have to sell, and for advertising to be effective, for most marketing to be effective, you have to know who you want to attract. You don’t pull in a vegetarian with grilled meat, if you’ll forgive me for the odd analogy.

But I think it’s something we should at least be more aware of in the long run. And when you see an advertisement, try to think beyond just what they are selling and see to who they are selling.

Because once you can see that, then you’ll be under another layer of the advertising world. And the deeper you go, the odder it gets.

The more primal it gets.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Wake up. Eat breakfast if you can. Drive to work.

Try to focus.

Do the work. Coffee. Lunch. More work.

Go home. Dinner. Chores. Sleep.

Start over again.

Ever feel you could write your life in a checklist? Like time is a thing always drained away? You swore you’d get that hobby project done. Or finally fix that broken light in the hallway.

Yeah, me too. It’s hard. Life is a rush of responsibilities. And even when you have free time, the sheer number of things being marketed to you will pull you in many directions.

The world wants your time and your money. You budget money (I hope) and it helps you keep track of things. So, why not budget time? Or at least try to get a bit of control.

Sounds difficult because it is. And I am not perfect either. So, I fail at this too. But when life eats you alive, I have a few pieces of advice to make things a tad more efficient.

1. The “Have To” List.

Priorities are important. And some things you have to do. So, know those things down pat. Trust me when I say you’re less likely to get distracted when you know a list of everything you have to accomplish by the end of the day.

2.            No Television, No Facebook.

How much time do you spend on social media? How many hours? How much T.V.? Television is not a ritualistic thing. It is a relaxing thing. It’s a reward. It is not a given aspect of day-to-day life. Treat both as things you get when the “have to” list is done.

3.            Just Get It Done.

Life has a ton of tiny things you should get around to doing. So, just do them. Yeah, it will take like five to ten minutes, but trust me it will only get more difficult if you let it all form a pile. Buy those vitamins from Natures Food Patch. Mail that letter at the post office. Pick up the gift card for your mother at One Stoppe Shoppe on Cleveland Street. Go do it when you think of it—barring obvious delays. Random particles and tasks that need doing eat concentration.

4.            Fully Relax!

No, none of that “a reward YouTube video for each work assignment done” or “texting a friend while doing homework.” I am not pooh-poohing leisure time. We all need it, or we would explode. But, if you are going to have some—then it is relaxation time. Full-on. And if you have to do work, then just do the work. Multitasking for productive things is not a good idea, and you’ll end up using more time on doing both at the same time than if you did them one at a time.

Sounds difficult and annoying and hard? Yeah. It is. But I know of no more efficient way. And, like I said, I fail at it all the time. But it’s at least worth attempting.

Think of all the time you could save.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com

Bioshock Infinite is a masterpiece with serious flaws. There, got that part out of the way. Now let’s talk about what it tried to promote.

While the first Bioshock tackled everyone having full control over their lives—especially regarding economics and how capitalism plays into it--the sequel Bioshock 2 did the same treatment for communism. Showing the evils of the opposite of the spectrum.

The problem, it seems, is we live in a world where there is no set answer to these kinds of questions. No matter which extreme you choose.

But later, after a while, the next game came into existence, and instead of hitting hard at another opposing ideology, it went a tad more...topical.

Well, sort of.

If Rapture was a place far away from the “parasites” and the communists, then Bioshock Infinite’s city Columbia exists to move away from the quote: “Sodom Below.”

In other words: it is a floating sky city populated by white supremacists who all worship a born again “prophetic” religious leader named Comstock.

That alone is a lot to unpack, and this article is not long enough for me to go into the serious social discussions these games deserve.

But, perhaps, the biggest takeaway from all the games is this idea: Charismatic pseudo-dictators are never good. Letting a single person control everything is never smart.

And this applies to this day and age. Whether on the country’s stage or just here in Clearwater. We all focus on the president, but we need to look at all the people in charge.

The president has power, sure, I am not even going to attempt to argue, but he does not have all the power—and no one should, really. No one should have all the say. We have a lot, a lot, of elected officials all over the place who can help create compromise, and we must compromise with other’s beliefs. And failure to understand that will not end well. Seceding from those you disagree with will not end well.

And if you don’t believe me, well, give it about thirty or so hours of gameplay, and I think you’ll see my point. Good satire can promote, implant, and imply ideas without saying them.

And I am excited to see if, and when, more video games go the extra mile to hit on such broad and thoughtful topics as this.

Movies and books and plays already do and did: but now we can directly interact with the ideas presented. And that is real power.

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If you liked this article, you can read more of Brandon Scott’s work over at The Hive, or on his website: www.coolerbs.com