The World Zeitgeist, Free Choice, Best Sellers, Hit Songs, and the Mere-Exposure Effect

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Have you ever thought occasionally about what is free thought and free choice? Lets pause on that for a moment.

There are millions of books to read but only a fraction of authors can become selling authors. Once a book becomes best-selling, it gains and maintains a momentum of success that can last for decades. Our belief or hope is the best always rises to the top and we are indeed reading the best books written (fictional or non-fictional). However, they are not called best writing authors, they are called best selling authors. There is built into this term a liability mechanism, that when push comes to shove, we’ll concede that perhaps we are not reading a best written book… at all, but a best selling one.

This same phenomenon is prevalent in the entertainment industry. If we focus on the music industry (not to forget television, movies, and digital media), there is estimated to be 82 million to 200 million songs in North America. Not all of them are recorded or catalogued. One source suggests there are 14 million recorded songs which can be listened to. On any given week across 16,000+ licensed radio stations: approximately 2000 unique songs are played at least once across North America. Alternative Radio stations exhibit the most choice of songs to listen with chart driven stations playing 20 to 30 most popular songs about every 4 hours. Some music artists and bands have developed 100’s of songs over decades. If they are lucky one or two become hits and receive regular radio play over the decades. Others are even more successful. Often in interviews they will share their favourites they created, and its often never the ones they became famous or successful from. I’m sure they would be giddy if one day they turned on the radio and heard that song being played.

Is there free choice when marketing, statistics, and various sciences are used to heavily influence what media is consumed? We are influenced to enjoy the lowest common denominator for the greatest reach and financial revenue. I genuinely believe the best usually rises to the top. A portion of contemporary songs are paid by the record label to get radio play until the ** mere-exposure effect ** and the brain’s reward system kicks in and the song becomes popular on its own merit. Does the mere-exposure effect counter act meritocracy? Is free choice at risk? The top 0.0001% in a catalog of 14 million songs is 16000+ radio stations playing 2000 songs repeatedly. Could a contemporary radio station survive if it only played songs between the top 0.0002% and 0.001%?

The world zeitgeist as described by Google Gemini on August 8, 2025: The “world zeitgeist” refers to the defining spirit or mood of a particular historical period. It encompasses the dominant ideas, beliefs, and cultural trends that shape the way people think and act during that time. In essence, it’s the “spirit of the age” or the prevailing worldview that influences society.

The world zeitgeist is about to be heavily influenced by Ai. If you thought marketing was powerful and the mere-exposure effect can give competitive advantage to otherwise mediocre entertainment, we haven’t seen anything yet.

Ai is now the first thing you read at the top an internet search results. The explanation provided for world zeitgeist was provided by Ai. I used it as an important component of this article with only a few seconds thought to the depth and breadth of the world zeitgeist. There are thousands of books, articles, documentaries, and movies that educate and inform about the world zeitgeist. The Google Gemini Ai whittles it down to 50 words or less. Is it obnoxious of me to even attempt to write about it without really educating myself on the subject. Immense mathematics, probability, and compute power is used to boil an ocean and serve it up an answer on a platter in seconds. How dangerous is boiling an ocean without any effort?

Ai will influence what is popular and what is not. The mere-exposure effect is at play in a world with Ai that needs research and a broad discussion in ethics.

There are no answers here. Only questions that we should start thinking about really answering. Don’t be fooled into thinking the mere-exposure effect has no effect on you. You might think you have eclectic tastes, but science is being used directly and in-directly to lower your taste to the lowest common denominator purposefully or not so purposefully.

My only advice is in a world of Ai generated answers and entertainment, be open minded and explore beyond the first search results page.

I end this article with a song that I could play every day until I die: I don’t know how many times it’s been played on the radio, but it should.

Fall into you by Houses on the Hill:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dnZAIfdDS3M

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Human Intelligence Metrics

• Research: 30 minutes

• Writing & Editing: 2 hours

• Peer Review / Feedback Loop: 15 minutes

• Total Work Time: 2.75 hours

• First Ideation: August 8, 2025

• Publication Date: August 8, 2025

• Total Elapsed Time: 4 hours