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The Forum: The power of seduction

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The power of seduction

15/09/2012 GMT

BBC World Service - The Forum, The power of seduction

How often are we lured into making choices without being aware of it?

Seduction: Why the adverts that slip under our conscious radar might be the most effective and why the artificial TV image of the West still exerts such a pull on the rest of the world.

This week on the Forum, why do we dream of a better life, aspire to more material comforts or look to another country for happiness, are we being rational or has our judgement been seduced?  

Robert Heath, a former advertising strategist, reveals how adverts seduce us and influence our feelings without our knowing it. Nigerian writer Chinelo Okparanta on why the dream of a life in America exerts such a strong pull on so many Nigerians and results so often in disappointment. And Indian novelist and political commentator Pankaj Mishra on how the West has forced the East under its spell since colonial times and how the East is still reacting to the West's dominance to this day.

Illustration by Emily Kasriel: The hidden lure of people, places and ideas.

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