Back in 1985, a strange case came to light.
It had to do with a man only known as Elliot.
This Elliot was a man of above average intelligence, a successful businessman, and happily married.
It then turned out he had a big brain tumor, which doctors successfully operated to remove.
Elliot seemed to be fine after the surgery. His intelligence, memories, perceptual skills, learning were all in tact. Only one thing was missing.
Elliot had lost most of his emotional capacity. Doctors figured this out by showing Elliot gruesome videos, which didn’t create any kind of reaction in him.
That part was expected, because the surgery removed a part of the amygdala, which is involved in emotions.
What wasn’t expected were some bizarre effects of this.
After the surgery, Elliot would take 30 minutes to decide which color pen to use. He’d take several hours to decide where to eat lunch. He wasn’t functioning at work any more, he lost his job, and eventually his wife divorced him as well.
What was happening?
Elliot could no longer make a decision.
It turned out that emotions, filthy illogical emotions, are actually necessary to making a decision. This includes all decisions (including buying decisions), even ones that seems to be made based on logic alone.
And here’s something interesting.
Antonio Damasio, the neuroscientist who examined Elliot and published a book about his case, has a theory about how the brain makes decisions, and how emotions come into play.
If Damasio is right, then the most effective way to stir emotions is not trough hype.
Or power words.
Or melodrama.
Instead, it’s something much simpler, more subtle, and effective.
I’ve even done it in this email. If you look close enough, you’ll be able to spot it.
I’ll also discuss it in more detail in my upcoming book on email marketing for the health space. To get your free copy when I finish this book up, sign up below: