Reality: Objective or Perceptual?

I’ve met people who say absolute truth does not exist, that all truth is subjective and exists like beauty in the eye of the beholder.

I believe those people are sadly misguided.

Absolute truth absolutely exists. If you don’t believe me, just ask me again because I am absolutely certain.

But we’re not talking about absolute truth today.

We’re talking about his very beautiful sister, personal truth.

Can you share your perceptions with someone else?

Can you cause them to feel a little of what you feel?

Can you make them see in their mind what you see in yours?

Do you have a contagious sort of confidence?

Congratulations. You are an artist, a persuader.

Every artist is a salesman and every salesman is an artist.*

The left hemispheres of our brains are wired for empirical, scientific, objective reality: absolute truth.

The right hemispheres of our brains are sponges thirsty for impressions, symbols, metaphors, connections and patterns. These patterns can be auditory, visual or behavioral.

Auditory patterns are called music.

Visual patterns are called art.

Behavioral patterns are called personality.

The more complex the pattern, the deeper the beauty.

The goal of every artist – no matter their field of art – is to give us a glimpse of personal truth, the beautiful sister of absolute truth.

Personal Truth is also known as Perceptual Reality and like Don Quixote’s Dulcinea, she lives in your heart and mind. Jory MacKay calls her “referential meaning.”

Embodied meaning is intrinsic—it’s inherently inside something and doesn’t rely on our emotions or experiences to have meaning. Referential meaning is dependent on the network of associations activated when we are exposed to the stimulus. In other words, we create meaning through what we think of when we see it.”

A persuasive message – an advertisement – can be crafted from the absolute truth of facts or the personal truth of values and the self-image we see reflected in them.

I once knew an attorney who put it this way:

When the facts are on your side, argue the facts. When the truth is on your side, argue the truth. When the law is on your side, argue the law. When in trouble, when in doubt, run in circles, scream and shout.”

In other words, when the facts are not on your side, appeal to self image, personal truth, subjective reality: values.

Last week, Indiana Beagle asked for your opinion of six different images of himself. You could give each logo from one to five stars and add comments, if you wished. What strong opinions you have about him! Reading those comments, Indy was delighted. I’ve known Indiana Beagle for many years but I had never before seen him prance.

Each of the six logos had its advocates who proclaimed it to be the obvious only choice, and each of the six had its detractors who said it was a criminal mischaracterization.

Each of you sees Indy differently because each of you brings a different set of values to the party. Indy is merely a trigger. “Referential meaning is dependent on the network of associations activated when we are exposed to the stimulus. In other words, we create meaning through what we think of when we see it.”

John Steinbeck said the same thing was true in storytelling.

A story has as many versions as it has readers. Everyone takes what he wants or can from it and thus changes it to his measure.”

Speaking to values instead of facts is one of the more complex methods of indirect targeting in ad writing. We’ll reveal all the simpler methods in August when the Wizard of Ads Partners unveils their new 1-day seminar on Indirect Targeting.

It may even become a class at Wizard Academy.

Interested? Shoot Andrew@WizardOfAds.com an email and he’ll keep you updated.

One last thing: our plan all along was to purchase all the logos from all the artists and rotate them with every visit to MondayMorningMemo.com.

Indy is exactly like you: he is much too big to be contained in a single image.

Roy H. Williams