In one of the comments to our first post Mark Zimmerman wrote his idea:
“Create (and constantly develop) a worldwide marketing campaign, which focuses on promoting altruism as the “in-thing” – that we can be respected in society only by our altruistic actions toward others. In other words, we use all sorts of imagery, arts, music, media and culture to make it “cool” and respectable to help/give to/love/think of other people.
Moreover, this question of “how do we help other people?” should continually be raised to the public through this promotion, so that this question constantly resonates in people’s thoughts, and so people will start thinking more about how to fulfill others and less about how to fulfill themselves – that true fulfillment is only through the fulfillment of others.”
Here are a couple commercials that promote altruistic values:
What do you think about this idea? And what about the videos?
Do you think that such publicity might actually convince (and maybe even change) people? Would it make an effect on you?
We’d love to know what you think about it.
We really need to disseminate altruism values as much as possible. I think these commercials are great to let us be inspired by it and to make a good part of society more open and sensible to this change in perspective of how to build relationships and how to feel the world.
However I think that for another part of society these commercials, for the time being, would perhaps even reforce some kind of “nausea” about this subject. As in marketing and advertisement, I think we could have different approachs, each suiting better each segment fo society. Maybe for this segment, just as a starting point, we could add a more spicy approach, in order to awake this peole to the subject of interconnectness, and therefore to the justification of altruism. Maybe something like this commercial http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gCxueoEF4U
Commercials like these would be an excellent way to introduce the concepts of altruism.I think that children,teens,and young adults, would notice and benefit.This would be a beginning,which could lead to something profound.
Very nice efforts,we are still in the journey and it will count on our right intentions,feeling what we feel and trying to feel each other,kicking our rightous judgments off the planet and trying as hard as it might be or as easy as it might sound; as the good does good,even to the bad!
Like anything else “we” do, the intention is what matters. What is the intention here, sell insurance, change behaviour, or change the way we think about a company that sells insurance? The bigger question is; when “we” discover a way to “sell” spirituality, will it still be spiritual? Leaders with correct intentions and spiritually developed desires must sacrifice and enter the world of commercialism and form the beginings of social change.
Changing human nature is certainly the key, and these videos sum up the proposal nicely. To actually change people, we must see for ourselves the direct results of our actions and how they influence the world, seeing how it all comes back to us. That we are not alone and are connected to everything in a very real and tangible way. Observing this firsthand would change my nature and perceptions without a doubt.
I like the idea in general. It’s time for us to re-asses our attitudes toward others and recognize that our egoistic tendencies (the world exists for my personal advantage only) are harmful, and videos could help in instilling a new idea of behavior into our minds.
I have a problem, however, with these two particular videos. They are more about politeness and good manners, but would it be enough to heal egoism? Being polite and good mannered has not become redundant, but it also did not prove to be a solution to the egoistic behavior. So, I think the videos, which have a chance to make a difference should be more around the topics such as:
– ego is harmful
– we are interconnected
– we could only be successful in our personal lives if we act for the sake of others.
I don’t know if these three even could be separated – they originate from one another either way you want to look at them…
(Of cause, it will take a talented individual or a group of people to come up with visualization of it…)
Let’s make altruism cool. I think the message should be communicated in such a way that it will provoke longing and make those who watch it ponder deeper, like an eye-opener, a much deeper impression than the commercials.
I read it from somewhere that Nothing is more powerful than an idea whose time has come !
Aloha!
L’chaim,
Wela
I think that Mark’s idea is excellent! It should be adopted.
The Videos are amazing! Very beautiful. They make you feel good and want to do the same things. People certainly are going to be affected by them.
Advertising influences all of us – so ads like this promoting caring for each other could have an impact – especially if done on a grand scale. Like any successful marketing campaign, a catchy, pithy slogan is needed to encapsulate the idea, to foster retention of it, and to help spread it.
Do you remember the movie Pay It Forward? One lonely high school teacher assigns his student’s each the task to make a difference in the world. And one child does. Each action he makes to the betterment of someone else’s life yields a web of such related good actions.
Heightening awareness of the benefits of altruism would undoubtedly help change the consciousness of the world – but is this enough?
I think every little bit helps, but it will take much more than just this type of commercial to make a dent. And the real opportunity to make an influence is with the children. The more messages we can get out to them – games, TV shows, movies, school curriculum, etc – that reflect altruistic values and comparison with the systems in Nature, the more likely we will have success. Too many adults are already so caught up and invested in their egoism that there is no chance to reach them.
I think that the idea of commercials that will promote true altruistic values is a wonderful idea that could really have a major effect on the way people think and act. Commercials make people want things that they don’t need and didn’t want till a commercial made it a most have in there life. In order for this to really work it would need to have a universal message that gives true examples from nature on how we can change the would if we change our thoughts and actions towards others.
Another thing here is that we are dealing with people who are complete egoist and only want for themselves, but what is it that they really want?
To receive true happiness, to fullfill the empty space in there hearts. but when they begin to see ads for an alturistic society we all know from experience that they will say…well whats in it for me. I feel if we can somehow show the people the difference between pleasures of this world and pleasure from alturism, that the pleasure received from things like drugs, entertainment, sports, or even one night relationships. will leave them empty
inside and wanting more, thus creating a distraction from the goal
of creation, as they continue depresion sets in. then obesity,
then fear, then hatred for the neighbors, then greed, and so on….until we keep all our resources for ourselves to make a profit from the very thing we should be sharing.
NOW.
We all are on a persuit of happiness and we all think that if we have an abondance of these things especially money that we will be happy. on the contrary its opposite the more we gain the more we sink into our own self love.
In this we can actually show what the ego is. once the ego has been identified by the masses, then they will feel the need to change the world from their own hearts and turn to the creator and pray that the quality of the ego be changed to alturism.
So what is the benifit of an alturistic society?
the answer is revealed once the ego is discovered as the root of all evil.
Any method that will capture a person’s attention can be used. The video is a great method for our “60 second” snap shot of our message.
Since we all influence each other, if you show the message in different ways this will subliminally enter the whole worlds mind.
If our intention is for a better world thru aultruism let influence it in any way we can.
In the world today we see various levels of altruism. People donate money to charity and organizations, others volunteer in hospitals and schools, and big corporations/organizations donate to hospitals and starving children in Africa. The truth to be told is – nothing ever helps. There aren’t less starving people in the world, people don’t get healthier, and the education system is deteriorating – drugs, violence, shootings and what not, in spite of all the efforts made to make the world a better and safer place.
We try the best that we can to help, and yet there still seems to be no balance whatsoever between our actions and what we’re supposed to do. In my opinion there must be something wrong with what we do. The conclusion is that our actions do not go hand-in-hand with what we are required to be and what we are here for. We need a different degree of altruism; we need to find a balance with nature on a much higher level. We must search for the source/force that will help us become true altruists, because alone we cannot do it.
I agree that every little counts, lots of pennies accumulate.
I also think celebrity endorsement would work well in today’s society, as everybody is watching the “rich and famous”.
The most important target audience still should be the children and teenagers as the future generation.
Yes, I also think that the videos promoting altruistic behaviour could work. To save the costs and trouble of having big companies doing them, it could be something like Shana Tova contest, where everyone could film a short video about himself/others doing good deeds and place it on YouTube. This way it will be real deeds and real people.
If we are talking about educating children or even adults, then everyone should be making videos (not just watching them) that show how in nature, everyone is taking care of each other. I think it’s important to draw a parallel between Nature’s laws and human behaviour, showing that we should act like Nature does, and that if we don’t, we get into trouble.
Above videos bring a good message to a public, but one can ask how entire humanity can act on it? It seems surreal. From history examples we see that societies that were built on altruistic values had failed. Therefore there should be deeper understanding why altruism is a necessity rather then a good gesture. Efforts should be put to educate public about interconnection and that each individual is a part of a whole.
I think every altruistic act no matter how small can become contagious after all we are influenced by our enviroment this type of video appeals to the general public.
Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary listed ‘altruism’ as
1 : unselfish regard for or devotion to the welfare of others
True interpretation of the meaning of ‘unselfish’ is thoughts and action preluded by an unselfish intention that are not selfish. ‘Welfare’ means for the good of others not to make others happy because being happy doesn’t mean it is good.
Yes I agree we need Altruism in this world. Only when everyone in the world has unselfish intention towards everyone around him/her can we change the world for the better! Our only hope is Altruism! How else can we change the world? It is so obvious that capitalism is a one sided regime where the rich get richer and poor get poorer. World economies crumbles because each country are selfish, food crisis and weather crisis occurs because we are selfish, we all live in One place called Earth and there is no other place to go to. We are all in One boat ‘Planet Earth’ anyone who drills a hole will sink the whole boat. With so many people and nations drilling a hole in the boat how can it get any better? Only through Altruism!
“It is hardly a secret that humanity is in a deep crisis. Many of us already feel it. Sensations of meaninglessness, frustration, and emptiness engulf our lives…It seems we have lost control of our lives and unable to head off problems they unfold…To resolve our problems, we first need to understand human nature and the nature of the world. If we understand our own nature and the laws affecting us, we will know where we are erring and what we must do to end the predicament we’re in.”
______________________ “We must wake up and understand that the problems that cloud our present lives are not coincidental; they cannot be resolved by any means that we know from the past. They will not stop, but will worsen until we change direction and begin to function in accord with the comprehensive low of Nature-the low of altruism.”
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“The world that envy, lust, and honor bring us from is this world; but the world they bring us to is the spiritual world, a higher degree of Nature. However, there is a condition: it happens only if we channel these natural inclinations in a positive and beneficial direction, enabling us to attain balance with Nature’s altruistic force.”
Does publicity help change people’s behavior? Well is sure has made a difference in changing peoples habits regarding smokng, and being healthy in general. Besides, I can’t believe that large companies would be spending money on commercials and other forms of advertising if they didn’t work.
We need to find ways to elevate the stature of those who do good in the world. Those who we never hear of. If we could begin to create a culture where the most popular people are those doing good instead of our current situation where we worship fame, wealth and power it would be a step in the right direction. Various media could be used to recognize these people and their efforts. Create a magazine, blog, television show, movie and probably others.
The negativity in the news has shown us how our systems and values have failed humanity. Suffering in the world is at crisis levels with stock market crashes and natural disaster havoc. Instead of sinking into the gloom that exists in the internet news we can rally the energy and resources that we need to contribute to healthy and sustainable societies. Altruism may well be the only way to get there. We have tried everything else and it has failed!
I think it’s a great idea that has good chances of winning. Regarding the commercials (ignoring the insurance part) I think they can have a great effect on people, it’s great to see people care about others lovingly. Makes you want to do the same 🙂
If possible, I think it would be good if a supranational organization, somehow linked to the countries of the world, dedicated solely to the promotion of altruism best would be able to impact change globally.
These commercials demonstrate the ideal world where altruism is common fare. This can only be accomplished by a grass roots effort where humanity is shown a different way in a values shift. The time is ripe right now for the educational effort needed in an environment where faith in man and humanity’s institutions is obviously wavering amidst pain, fear and uncertainty. To place the resources needed behind this endeavor would be a fantastic project!
anyone who’s connected even a little bit to Kabbalah knows that its not up to us to change our egoistic nature. and it will be a waste of time to try. Obviously with Google the “fix” has to be fundamental and long-lasting (otherwise their whole initiative will go down the drain), but we can’t say “lets make the whole world study Kabbalah!”. we can say – we can create a “new world”, a State of Kabbalah, a new country that will live by new rules. and the rest of the world should be able to see how its being created and then what it does – and want to join, as any person will always want to be where everyone is happy and complete.
The only way to get people to hear things nowadays is through celebrity endorsement – get Angelina & Brad as spokespeople or convey the full concept in a book and get Oprah to promote it. The rich and famous are really hurting right now because even all their money and power can’t fix things at the moment.
This sounds like a lovely idea. I think the keypoint raised here is: “this question of “how do we help other people?” should continually be raised to the public through this promotion, so that this question constantly resonates in people’s thoughts.”
Reading this post and watching the clips reminded me very much of another brief clip that a friend of mine forwarded to me the other day: http://www.simpletruths.tv/movies.php?movie=STSR
I was in tears while watching this because it is so moving. It touched my heart simply because that young man had a heartfelt intention to put a smile on people’s faces; that’s the beauty of it….The only thing that bothers me about those 3 videos is how such genuine acts of kindness are used to promote a company or business, and that’s the one thing we’ll have to watch if putting this plan into action – we will have to continuously remind ourselves that this is about giving to others rather than about feeding our own ego, and that’s challenging.
Therefore, I have no doubt that this kind of publicity would be effective. Whether it would actually change people’s nature or not – very hard to say because everything discussed here remains within the physical and corporeal realm. Personally I believe that what truly matters is one’s intention because that’s what determines the quality of our acts. And if the question “how do we help other people?” keeps resonating in us, we may very well be able to steer the kavana toward the ultimate goal.
I find these videos very moving. Of course, I’m ignoring the part where the insurance company is trying to make themselves look good to customers! Altruistic acts in commercials and in TV show episodes have always brought me to tears (so embarrassing!). I think this is because I know internally how hard it is to put others before self and when I see it modelled it reminds me how far I am from the goal. These commercials are great because they teach others how far they are from the goal and raise the desire!
Rav always says that our freedom of choice lies in our environment. AND, more importantly, our environment has influence upon us…
I’ve said previously and I’ll repeat, I believe this idea is exactly the direction that we should go. It is very simple, and a campaign like this can reach to the far corners of the earth. All it takes is money to distribute the idea of living in an altruistic lifestyle, as well as the correct aim, for Him, which will follow naturally.
These commercials are beautiful, and subtle. They make me want to live in this way and in a community that is based on helping others – whatever that may mean. I truly think that this could have a global impact – especially if the kids believed that it was cool to live altruism. They are our next generation and oddly, the adults have to get with them anyway.
So, it is possible that the whole world could be affected through this medium, and that we may all respond to this type of media campaign!
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