More on Neurocharlatans

Back to normal after a long and strangely hectic summer…before we return with some more meaty entries - let me draw your attention to an article in Adage (found the reference on Mark Earl's blog) on one of my pet subjects - neuro-charlatanerie. Also for those who read German (I know, not many), have a look at this article in Die Zeit explaining how the pretty pictures of the brain showing areas that 'light up' during a certain activity come into being…Turns out that they are actually models/constructs based on statistical calculations projected on two dimensional drawings, not as one is led to believe, 'real' photographic evidence of what is going on in the brain. Funny that that one isn't better known… Anyway, I wish I could share Mark Earl's optimism that 'this nonsense is about to run its course'. Would be nice but my guess is that it will indeed 'expand like crazy' (as one of the proponents says in the Adage article) when/if the costs of technical equipment go down. Science on the one hand too complex to understand for the average marketer, on the other offering pretend-certainty and as such opportunity to cover decision-makers' backsides seems to offer quite a powerful combination…