[pleasant music]
- [sniffing]
Ah, nothing like bacon and eggs in the morning.
It's a hearty meal that holds you together for the whole day.
It's a combination so obvious that it's been around
for as long as both foods existed.
Humans naturally loved these foods together,
so they became a staple of breakfast.
Or did they?
What if I were to tell you that the traditional combination
of bacon and eggs isn't part of our natural history,
but is instead a corporate conspiracy
orchestrated by society's true puppet masters?
It isn't a breakfast for champions.
It's a breakfast for sheeple.
[electronic music]
♪
We think that a lot of commonplace things
are the way they are because of collective free choice,
when in fact, sometimes,
one or two people alone
made a decision and created something
that is now taken for granted as part of society--
just part of life.
Here's the real story behind bacon and eggs.
It all begins with Sigmund Freud.
Or rather, his nephew, Edward Bernays.
Bernays is credited as the "Father of Public Relations,"
the product of a time when the world
had become just small enough
that you could manipulate a lot of people at once
because of the way that advertising, news,
and radio could reach a large number of people quickly.
Bernays took advantage of mass media
not with the intention to inform,
but with the intention to control.
In the 1920s, Ed Bernays asked a doctor
who worked at his agency whether a breakfast should be
heavy or light, and the doctor pretty much said,
"I guess heavy would be better."
Bernays then had that doctor
get 4,500 other doctors to confirm that.
- All of them concurred that a heavy breakfast
was better for the health of the American people.
- Then, Bernays lobbied newspapers
to publish that all these doctors were saying
you should eat a big ol' breakfast.
But he wasn't doing this to improve public health.
He was doing this because Beech-Nut Packing Company,
a major supplier of bacon,
was paying him to do it.
- The sale of bacon went up,
and I still have a letter
from Bartlett Arkell,
president of Beech-Nut Packing Company,
telling me so.
- So we collectively, as a country,
agreed that bacon was our breakfast meat of choice.
But we didn't actually make that choice at all.
And that's just breakfast.
Our lives are full of decisions that we think
we make of our own free will.
But do we?
[dramatic music]
These days, our markets are inundated
with products and choices.
But is having many choices good or bad?
[dreamy electronic music]
♪ ♪
Most people say they like a lot of choices.
But do they really?
We took our cameras and a few pounds of jelly beans
to Venice Beach to find out.
First, we invited people to pick
one of two flavor choices.
- Yeah, good.
- Yeah, I'm happy with it. Yeah.
Thank you.
It was an easy choice to make.
I chose it 'cause I wanted something fresh in my mouth.
- I like it--I like lemon and citrus and everything like that.
Good taste. I'm happy with my choice.
- Most subjects were content with their selection
when it was a choice between two options.
But what happens when we offer more choices?
Will the subjects be just as happy with their decision?
- I see.
Not licorice...
Okay. Can I do more than one? Or just one?
- Oh, my goodness.
Mmm.
Mm-hmm.
Well, I'm kind of regretting not trying a fruit one.
Because with jelly beans, it's more--
fruit is more natural to me.
Like, I probably should have gone
for my first choice, raspberry.
Maybe I would have been happy.
- There's, um--I mean, there's a lot to choose from.
I'm gonna try one?
- Okay. Marshmallow.
- I don't know. Uh...
You're always questioning, like,
"Did I make the right choice," right?
Like, initially, I wanted to try pineapple,
but then I thought marshmallow,
I don't want to miss out on marshmallow, or peach,
or blueberry even.
If I could choose again, I would probably pick peach.
- All right.
Pineapple.
Very good. It's my favorite fruit.
Mmm, I could have had blueberry,
which is also one of my favorites.
- Uh, kind of an impulse decision.
I kind of wish I looked at the whole
thing a little bit more. - Yeah.
- Maybe I would have picked a better flavor.
- So maybe sometimes we're actually
happier with fewer choices?
In fact, researchers have been
exploring this idea for years.
According to the famous jam experiment,
a study by Sheena Iyengar and Mark Lepper published in 2000,
too many similar choices may even stop us
from making any choice at all.
The study compared two store displays:
one with 6 varieties of jam and one with 24.
Although fewer consumers stopped to sample jam
at the display with limited choices,
a full 30% of them made a purchase.
By contrast, only 3% of the consumers
at the more extensive display
actually bought a jar of jam.
This is called "Choice paralysis."
But life is all about choices.
We like having choices.
Don't we?
Or are we happier
when we have no choice at all?
[static]
Hello, and welcome to "Tea Time Word Scrambles,"
the game show where the competition is steep
and trouble is always brewing?
Some of our contestants will be given a choice
of caffeinated black tea or soothing herbal tea.
And the others will be given no choice at all.
Once the tea takes effect,
they'll be asked to unscramble some words.
Which contestants will be happier with their performance?
Those who have their choice of tea, or those who don't?
Let's find out. It's "Tea Time."
My name is Michael Stevens, your host today.
Let's meet our contestant, Gisele.
- Yay! - Nice to meet you, Gisele.
- Nice to meet you too.
- Tell me a little bit about yourself.
- I'm from New York, and I've lived in LA for al--
[bell dinging]
Gisele, you know what that sound means.
- What? - That means it's Tea Time.
- Yay! - Go ahead and take a seat
in the Tea Seat. - Okay.
I like tea.
- Well, you're in for a treat, Gisele.
- Okay. - Because today you are going
to be unscrambling words. - Uh-oh.
- A task that requires energy-- - Yeah.
- Because there's a time limit, but it also requires focus.
- Mm-hmm. Okay. - Steady, calm nerves.
- Got it. - And patience.
- Yeah. - So,
today the choice is yours.
You can either have
some herbal tea that will keep you calm and focused...
- Okay. - Or you can have
some black tea that's caffeinated
and will give you some energy.
- Hmm.
I'm gonna go with black. - Black tea?
- Yeah. - All right.
Go ahead and pour some black tea--
you know what? I'll have some too.
Mmm, wonderful.
Now, what made you pick black tea?
- Um, I want to be energized.
- Okay. - Yeah.
- Here's to you. - Cheers.
- Cheers.
Mmm. [bell dinging]
Whoa, you know what that sound means.
It's word scrambling time. - Okay.
- Remember, this subject had a free choice
of which tea to drink.
Will freedom of choice bring her
happiness and satisfaction?
Gisele, these are your words.
- Oh, my God. When do I start?
- Well, we're gonna put three minutes on the clock.
- Okay. - Go ahead.
You can use these steps
to access the letters.
The goal here is to solve
as many as possible within the three minutes.
- Got it. - And...go!
- [sighs]
[playful music]
- Starting with word number five.
♪ ♪
Gisele has kitten.
That looks like it could be the right answer.
♪ ♪
- Oh, yeah. - Vacuum.
- Uh...
Um... - Hearth.
Looking good.
- Oh, I don't know what this is.
Um...
[bell dinging] - Oh!
And time is up, Gisele. Come on down.
And let's take a look at how you did.
- Oh. Oh, no. [laughs]
- For number one, you got vacuum,
which is correct, very good job. - Yay!
- Very good job. For number two, hearth.
Correct, very good job. - Yay!
- Now, number three, you have "Taffrid."
- [blows raspberry] - It's a very good word,
but it's not one.
The actual answer is adrift.
- Oh, I was so stuck on that.
- Number five, you have kitten.
That was the first one you solved, and kitten is correct.
- Yay! - Very good job.
Now, down here at the bottom,
uh, the answer is lounge.
You have "Lougne."
- Oh! I spelled it wrong!
- No, we can't accept "Lougne," unfortunately.
Well, Gisele, you received
one, two, three points.
So, how do you feel you did?
- I should've probably had the other tea
because then it would have calmed my nerves.
I should have chose the other tea.
- This subject clearly regrets her choice.
The fact that she chose the tea herself
gives her the opportunity to second-guess her decision.
What about the other subjects
who were given freedom of choice?
"Noric," we were looking for ironic.
- Isn't that ironic? - No, it is not.
What we were looking for was hearth.
- Hearth? - Adrift.
Shroud. - Are these words--
actual, real words? - Yeah, they are.
Tell me, Heather, how do you feel you did today?
- Uh, not as well as I had hoped.
- If you could do it again would you choose a different tea?
- Yes. You can only get better.
You can't get worse than one.
- I think, probably, if I had chosen the other tea,
I would have gotten everything correct.
- None of these contestants
were happy with the choices they made.
But what happens when
the freedom to choose is taken away?
Trin, tell us which tea has been
randomly assigned to Athena today?
- Athena has been assigned black tea.
- Ooh, caffeinated, energizing black tea.
Here's to you, and good luck.
- Thank you.
- Mmm. Oh, wow.
That's good tea. [bell dinging]
Athena, you've had the tea we assigned you.
Black tea. Caffeinated tea.
Let's see how that serves you in this challenge.
- Oh, boy. - Here are your words!
You have three minutes beginning...now!
- Oh, boy.
- Lots of choices.
- Hmm.
- Kitten. - Finally.
Oh...
- Don't worry, Athena. We've had far worse.
Two minutes. - Oh, boy.
- Two minutes remain. - Nothing is coming to me.
- These words are not easy.
Lounge.
- Yes. [bell dinging]
- And that's time.
Athena, come on down.
And let's take a look at how you did.
- Okay. - So, for word number five,
you have kitten... kitten is correct.
- Good job. - Yay.
- And for the final word, you have lounge.
And the answer is lounge.
[bell dinging]
So you got 2 out of the 12. - Oh, boy.
- Tell me, how do you feel you did.
- I'm just happy that I got two of them.
- Do you think you would have been able to solve more
if you'd had a calming tea?
- Probably not, you need a little something
to kick-start your brain activity.
- This subject, who was given no choice,
was happy with the tea assigned to her,
despite getting only two words right.
And she wasn't the only one.
- How do you think you did?
- I think I did pretty-- pretty great.
- If you could do it again, would you have
preferred to have been assigned a different tea?
- No.
sometimes we're happier when we don't have a choice.
Well, for two points,
you--you win nothing.
This game is actually more about investigating
the mind, so in reality,
the real winner today is everyone.
Thanks for playing, and remember,
no matter where you live or who you are,
it's always... both: "Tea Time!"
- Damn it, I just found another word.
[subtle electronic music]
♪ ♪
- So, it's not always preferable
to be in the driver's seat of your life.
Sometimes, the pressure to make a decision
can cause you to dwell on the options you didn't choose
and hinder your performance.
But what if there's a difference between
the physical process of making a decision
and your consciousness being aware
that a decision has been made?
What if all your decisions are made by someone--
no, something else--
a split second before you're aware you've made them?
♪ ♪
[buzzer blares]
This task seems easy enough.
Just push either button before the light comes on.
[buzzer blares]
So why is it so difficult?
It's difficult because this machine
is actually reading my mind.
It knows when I decide to push a button
and lights them up before I can actually push one.
- How does it feel when it's happening?
- It feels like...
Like, right then.
It already knew.
I'm trying to not have my mind read.
[buzzer blares]
Here's how the box works.
My decision to push a button doesn't begin when I think it does.
It's actually preceded by subconscious activity, I'm not aware of
But that the machine can detect.
Now the machine isn't predicting which button I will push,
it's determining when I am about to push one, before I know it.
For the first few minutes, I push buttons,
and the box records my brain activity
learning which behaviors follow which subconcsious processes.
♪
Eventually, the box can know what I'm about to do,
before even I do.
In other words, it can read my subconscious mind
and tell me what I was going to do
before I know I was going to do it.
That's the part that freaks me out.
This is called a free will experiment
because it begs the question of what free will actually is.
If the subconscious knows what you're doing
before you do it, is it really your decision,
or do you just think it's your decision?
[buzzer blares]
[laughs]
I'm trying to surprise it.
[buzzer blares]
- The interesting thing is to see, like,
for instance, that you become closer to the machine,
and you definitely speed up.
- I feel very competitive.
I don't want my mind to be read.
I find this process frustrating...
[buzzer blares]
Even though I know how the box works.
But what if you didn't know what the box did
before you tried it?
I want to introduce you to Moran, and this is Diana
from the YouTube channel Physics Girl,
one of my favorite YouTube channels.
- Michael, stop.
- Derek, thanks for being here.
I'm very excited to introduce you to Moran Cerf
from Northwester. - Nice to meet you.
- And he's brought his box.
Diana and Derek have scientific minds.
But they have not been told what the box really does.
Moran explains a deceptively easy game.
- So we could-- - The lights are on,
don't touch it. - Yeah.
- Once the box begins to beat
their conscious decision-making to the punch,
will they be able to figure out what's going on?
- Do I look a bit like a jellyfish?
- You feel comfortable? - Great. I feel amazing.
- Okay. You can start.
[dramatic music]
- For the first 15 minutes, the box calibrates
and learns how the subject's mind acts
before making a decision.
Then, the fun begins.
[buzzer blares]
♪
[buzzer blares]
♪ ♪
- Before?
- Yeah.
[buzzer blares]
- Both of our subjects seem increasingly confused
and frustrated. [buzzer blares]
- [laughs]
- I know exactly how they feel.
[buzzer blares]
- It's hard 'cause sometimes, like, the light comes on
while I'm going to push it, you know?
It's kind of-- - Yeah, yeah.
Well, Moran, do you want to tell him?
- So, this box here
is reading your brain activity
and tries to predict not which button you're gonna press,
but when, and then turn the lights on
just before you press the button.
- This is predicting when I'm gonna make the decision.
What? - Yeah.
- This is amazing.
- I definitely noticed the lights going on often
when I was going to hit the buttons.
- Mm-hmm. - But also there were times
when, like, I wasn't gonna make any choice,
and they just went on, so I was like, well--
- Why? How do you know? - [laughing] Right.
- What? - How do you know that?
Maybe the lights just stopped your brain
from telling you that you were about to make a choice.
- It's not just, "Oh, he's about to push it,"
but it's "he is about to become
aware that he is going to push the button."
- I'm trying to think, like, I'm still trying to out-think you.
Like, I'm trying to be like, "Oh, I'm gonna
"push the left button, I'm gonna--
wait, no, I'm gonna do the right."
- It's interesting that you put it that way.
Because really, it's not about out-thinking us,
it's about out-thinking yourself.
The implications of this are kind of chilling.
We could affect the decisions you make
in all aspects of your life
if we could tell you things like,
"Which of these two paintings will you prefer?"
- Mm-hmm. - Which candidate
do you want to vote for, or imagine
using this for dating.
Because it's reading your subconscious mind...
- Mm-hmm. - We might be able to tell that
you prefer someone that you don't actually
think you do.
- Well, that sounds scary.
[laughter]
But--but at the same time,
I feel like I-- I don't know.
I'm such a human, Michael, I feel like
my humans response is like, "Okay,
"there's a process my brain goes through.
"I get it. You learned it.
But it's still my brain and still my process."
- Denial. - Is...
- I--I like to call it "Limitations" of free will.
- And by the way, we know that you're gonna have
chicken salad for tomorrow's dinner.
[laughter] - Yes, that's very clear.
It's very good at predicting that.
- Yeah. - [laughing]
[subtle electronic music]
♪ ♪
- Like falling dominoes,
a whole chain of things has led up
to now, this very moment.
In your life, those dominoes might be
your parents, your childhood, the books you've read,
your friends, things that have influenced you,
what you had for breakfast,
how you felt this afternoon.
Everything has led up to now, that final domino,
but how it falls, well, that's your choice, right?
Or is it? [sighs]
Moran's box kind of questions some of that.
If your brain can tell us what you're going to do
before you even know you're going to do it,
is your conscious mind actually being controlled
by your subconscious mind?
And if your subconscious can be fooled,
then who is actually in charge?
Do you truly have free will?
Or are you just...
like a puppet?
A puppet who thinks
it has no strings?
Does your conscious, aware self
just take credit for things
your unconscious body's already
decided to do?
[laughs] Well, more research needs to be done.
But what we do know is that
things you normally wouldn't consider part of you
are a gigantic part of you.
I think Kermit the Frog said it best:
"Although I'm not sure exactly what Jim Henson did,
whatever it was, it really moved me."
[electronic music]
♪ ♪