The Power of Advertising

This article by philosopher and author Alain de Botton in the Observer is well worth a read. Here are a few highlights,

"I'm routinely astonished by how seriously people in power take the impact of advertising on children and how relatively unbothered they are by its impact on adults. At what precise moment is one supposed to accede to that magical age when one can be confident enough not to be seduced by the satanic genius of advertisers?"

and,

"Google, Twitter, Facebook, email, the iPhone, the Blackberry and the web have all finally conspired to kill our ability to be alone and unstimulated. Our unaided minds can no longer possibly hope to emulate the thrills available from these devilish technologies. Sales of serious books have plunged 39% since this time last year. We are at an epochal moment. Our intelligence has ended up making us stupid; it's a miracle if you are still reading."

Read the whole thing here. (HT: Breathe)