My PC, Myself

It’s a crazy notion.  That goes without saying.  I had it a number of years ago and watched it run its own little course all this time.  What amazes me so often though is how it runs true to form in every instance I have tested it.  It goes like this, “What if when we built computers, we did it more in our own image then we have ever realized?”

I am not talking about the big old IBM Mainframes which caused the CEO of IBM to spout that there would never be a need for more than 5 computers in the whole world, I am talking about the PC.  Mostly I am talking about the PC (or Personal Computer) because after years in the technology world, I tend to understand them better than the old behemoths which no longer really exist.  (In the 50’s I didn’t think about computers too much, I thought more about eating and sleeping and whether mom was going to change my diapers anytime soon because that warm squishy feeling was starting to get clammy)  Since the 70’s the world has moved to a heavy predisposition to PC’s set up on client/server networks.  In the early days, PC’s were hobby machines and they didn’t even have an operating system.

Today most of us have Pentium something’s with connection to billions of others worldwide through the internet.  Come to think of it, you wouldn’t be reading this right now without one.  And the machine you are reading this on utilizes some techno-voodoo which doesn’t really exist at all save for referencing by geek speakers like me called the OSI model.

The OSI model suggests that from the outermost recognition of computer use to the deepest darkest inner workings of a computer there are seven different layers.  At the very top is an application which is the most direct relationship with the user kind of like Internet Explorer which allows users to interact with their computer to connect with the internet. (betcha’ a nickel that if you look at the very top blue line of this screen you’ll see the words “Microsoft Internet Explorer”) ((If you don’t see it, collect your nickel from someone who does…))

At the very bottom of the OSI model lays the software that turns this sometimes frustrating hunk of iron into a living, breathing, thinking machine.  It is the very first time a lifeless metal box recognizes a purpose greater than being a boat anchor.  It’s called “binary code.”  The binary code has two choices, it can run electricity through a little “bit” or it can choose not to.  If you put two of the little ‘bits” side by side and run electricity through them or not you can come up with 4 different combinations.  If you put 3 “bits” together you get 8 combinations, 4 bits gets you 16, 5 = 32, 6 = 64, 7 = 128 and 8 = 256 different combinations of on and off.

Amazingly enough, there are 8 “bits” in a “byte” which make up a single character and 256 choices on a standard ascii character keyset.  Alright, enough technospeak.

I am done.

I promise.

The point was, everything emanates from a simple choice of on or off.  An electrical impulse shot through a piece of fine metal and plastic from which springs all knowledge existent on almost any computer anywhere.

So if we created these computer things in our own image, what would be the simple binary code for humans?

And if we knew the answer to that, would we then have the root of all influence?  And if we knew the root of all influence, would it change how we went about doing business?

(See, I told you it was a crazy notion at the beginning, didn’t I?)

Well just for giggles and grins let’s explore the next crazy notion.

What if the binary code for humans were simply that we always move towards a feeling of being loved, and away from the fear of loss of love?

Could that possibly be true?  If it is, how can we use the knowledge in business and life?

Well, an old and too often ignored bromide in sales says “people buy emotionally and justify their decision with logic.”  If that’s true, and I strongly believe it is, then it stands to reason that if I can associate the decision to buy with feeling more loved or lovable then I am more likely to buy.

From some great work on Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, a field of psychology which works with language structures to create emotional shifts, by Dr. David Burns, M.D. comes the idea that there is a direct correlation between thoughts and feelings.  That our thoughts can cause us to shift our feelings immediately and by shifting our feelings, change our actions.

Wanna take a look at some thinking a little older?  The inherent premise of the Bible is simply that there are two major forces in the world, good and evil.  In the end, good, portrayed by God triumphs over evil as played by your local neighborhood Devil.  God always represents love, joy, peace, patience and some other good fruits while Satan seems to utilize fear, anger, rush hour traffic and other icckky stuff.  The Old Testament is Four Thousand years old and the New Testament is about Two Thousand.

Ok, so none of this is empirical truth.  I understand that.  But then no one has ever really proved that E really does equal MC2 and we still get pretty nifty explosions with atomic bombs.  In fact, every premise where I have converted language structures into folks feeling better about themselves have always resulted in positive outcomes.  If by some comment, I have appeared to create a negative image for someone I was with, the outcomes have not been quite so positive.

Provable or not, I say it works and if you wanna be happy in business, sales or life, you will be far better off if you help folks feel better about themselves.

So why not give it a try?  Shut off the computer, find your favorite person, trigger their love buttons and see if it doesn’t turn them from a cold hunk of iron into something a lot more loveable …