On Knowing Vs. Doing

There's nothing quite like being forced to watch Super Size Me for the fourth time to bring out the "we got the memo" mood in me.

I think one of the interesting things about the PSAs about the dangers of smoking, eating fast food, safe driving, etc., is the fact that no one I know doesn't already know about them.

We've been raised in a culture that knows that certain behaviors are dangerous.  I think a lot about the rise in "molly" or MDMA use in the EDM culture -- and how, if you let people in on the little secret that MDMA is pure ecstasy, no one didn't know that it could be dangerous.  I remember talking about ecstasy in DARE (drug awareness education program) in elementary school.  We all knew what it was and why it could be so dangerous.

I also think about fast food or junk food consumption -- we pretty much all know it's bad for us.  Shaming someone who's eating it doesn't suddenly make them suddenly decide that it's not good for them and stop.

The choices people make: to smoke, or eat unhealthy food, or do things they know can be unsafe, are made, at this point, in spite of the fact that everyone knows they're bad.  Why people might choose to do something they know isn't good for them comes down to temporarily weighing pros and cons or the cognitive dissonance between what they know and what they want or believe.  It's not a matter of PSAs...it's about changing attitudes, day in and day out, to change the instinctive reactions that override the rational knowledge.