You Are So Fake !

We, humans, love designer shoes, clothes, and especially women, who love designer purses, shades, etc. As we all may know, these items are not inexpensive and they might even cost us one of our paychecks– the ENTIRE paycheck that is. On the other hand, when other options are put out there, such as counterfeit/ replica items, for a much lower price, we are attracted immediately to the item– but most importantly to the price. Even though we may know the difference, we think that our friends won’t notice it, we buy it and it makes us look good and feel good. Unfortunately, this is where the mistake happens. Researches found out that replicas don’t work as magically as we really want it to, and in addition it has psychological costs, warping people’s actions and their attitudes. Researches conducted a study with a large group of young women. The researches then had them all wearing pricey Chloe sunglasses. The glasses were all the real deal, but half of the women believed that they were all phony. Researches then wanted to see if wearing counterfeit items makes them, the young ladies, act dishonest. So, they performed many tasks to test their honesty, one of them specifically was working with a complicated set of mathematical puzzles – one that they could not possibly finish in the time provided. When the time was up, they were asked to score themselves based on the honor system and to take money for each correct answer. At the end, the women who thought they were wearing fake sunglasses cheated 70% more than the ones who thought that the sunglasses they had were real.

How does this relate to science ? Well, it has to do with how counterfeit items can make a person behave differently, psychologically speaking. The human mind is probably one of the most important– and interesting, things that there is out there, and the fact that a study was made to see how fake items make one behave, adds more information to the psychology of the human mind. The science behind it is that counterfeit items, themselves are a way of lying, and when we buy them and wear them, our minds are programmed–somehow, to lie also. This all has to do with the way the mind thinks and behaves.

This article should catch the interest of the majority if the people– as it did to me. More than half of the people out there purchase counterfeit items. Many of them purchase it from vendors that are right down the street from where they live. Therefore, it is so easy to purchase these items, and then it also makes it easier for us to become liars. We should be more aware of counterfeit items, and as a matter of fact, avoid them. These items have been found to make us think differently, and for some reason, make us cheat and make us more confident about our lies. So, fake items on us make us even more fake, as we are more likely to lie, and nobody, absolutely NOBODY, like to be called fake or two-faced, so again, let’s all lay off the counterfeit items, if we don’t want to also be called a compulsive liar.

Source:http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=faking-it