You can learn to love liver

It doesn’t have to be liver, it could be okra, pea soup, spinach, oysters, limburger cheese,brussel sprouts, or any other food you would normally hate, and we have Elizabeth Loftus to thank for this new development.

Loftus, a pioneer in the field of false memory at the University of California, Irvine, breezed through work new and old on planting false food-related memories in volunteer subjects. She’s convinced people to despise pickles, eggs, and ice cream. Her team has also had subjects swearing that asparagus is the food of gods. 

The dupes all work similarly. She recruits subjects and asks them some questions about their dietary preferences, then tells them a computer has created a analysis of their diet with a list of new food recommendations, including a false memory: You got sick eating eggs as a child, to pick one example.

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According to her, it’s that simple. She’s convinced she can also teach you to hate foods you love. Chocolate causing you to pack on the pounds? False memory yourself all the way into that bikini. Enjoy a few too many martinis? Use the power of your own mind to make martinis a memory not a mistake.

Some people find this a bit alarming, bringing out fears of mind control and other scary subjects. Fracas doesn’t think it’s all that much to write home about. It’s something we crafty women have known all along. Take, for example, Wilma Flintstone.

Back when Loftus was either a future glimmer in her mother’s  subconscious, or at most, a small child… Wilma was earning some serious under-eye bags by burning the midnight oil planting suggestions in Fred’s head while he slept. Suggestions that earned her (at least for a time) the luxury life.

So instead of fretting over whether mind control and being trained to love that luscious lump of liver on your dinner plate is a bad thing or not, use that time instead, to do a little false memory planting on your own Fred (or Wilma).

Just don’t bring Pebbles along on the fur coat heist.