communication

Inspired in Theories of Communication class by reference to an experiment (performed by one Festinger) which shows that performing a behavior has more effect on one's thoughts/feelings about the behavior than do logic, culture, preconcieved notions, etc, I went back and found this link:
Researcher V.S. Ramachandran - has been doing lots of interesting things which I happened to run across (i think he must be friends with Gladwell) regarding understanding self, such as using mirrors to cure phantom-limbs. His site: http://cbc.ucsd.edu/ramabio.html

The radiolab page where I first heard about it: http://www.wnyc.org/shows/radiolab/episodes/2005/03/04

This, as well as the experiment by Festinger, seem to bolster the theory described by John Searle as ephiphenomenalism (which he claimed in one of his books that no philosopher had ever taken seriously), wherein mental states are byproducts of physical processes and don't have any physical repercussions - except perhaps to inhibit actions. The wikipedia article on epiphenomenalism takes the neuroscience a little deeper, but the implication for design/persuasion is clear with just this:
1. frame a goal for a user in terms of avoiding some behavior (not necessarily negative - if the goal is to begin eating more fruit, the designer aims to avoid fixating on the desirability of steak, bread, chips, ... including everything that would fill the user's belly EXCEPT fruit.) As Chuck would put it, 'make it easier to do than to avoid the behavior'.
2. Bring the avoided activity into awareness in the time window where it's up for action but not yet committed to (such as browsing the fridge, headed toward checkout at the supermarket)
3. Distract the user from the avoided behavior (stress, fear, and physical noise are reliable but expensive; music and beauty work as long as there is social order; fascinating puzzles or information work with fewer people but are far cheaper to implement at scale).

This also relates to the work of Humberto Maturana on the evolution of communication at the cellular level.