Book Review: The Culture Code

I like novels, but I also like works of non-fiction as well, especially those that make me think. Recently, I finished The Culture Code by Clotaire Rapaille. If you like books like Freakanomics and Blink, then this is the perfect book for you. Mr. Rapaille is a psychologist/sociologist by profession and early into his career he started to analyze people, for big corporations to help these corporations market their products. The results of years of research and study are what he calls "codes". These codes, for people worldwide, determine what they buy, why they buy it, and how they live their lives.

For example, there is a chapter in the book about the codes for health and youth in America. According to the author, the code for health and wellness in America is: Movement; the code for doctor is Hero; the code for nurse, mother; and the code for hospital, Processing Plant. Based off of the research and sessions with group participants the fact that America is a new nation, a nation on the move, means that we are always going and our going in theory is what keeps us alive and healthy. In the US, we buy into doctors because they fix us when we are hurt and broken, and we love nurses because they are nurturing and care for us like our moms. (Insert personal comment: Except maybe for Nurse Rachett...now she was a piece of work.) This then explains the code for hospitals. We are a people on the move so when we are ill enough to be a patient in a hospital, the movement stops, and we are pinned down by protocol, rules, pain levels, and illness. Doctors and nurses keep us moving and hospitals weigh us down.

With this in mind, it's no wonder insurance companies, HMO's, doctors and nurses and hospitals themselves are all about getting us moving and keeping us happy. They are staying on code. After my c-section when Elliott was born, I wasn't bed ridden, but up within hours moving around, going to the NICU, and wiggling my toes. I had to keep moving and during the 5 days I was in the hospital, even though I was being "processed", I was able to come and go from the baby to my room as I pleased.

This is but one example from the book. If this example isn't enough, here are some more "codes" to wet your whistle, or get you excited to read the book.
Cheese = Dead
Seduction = Manipulation
Beauty = Man's salvation
Youth = Mask
Work = Who you are
Alcohol = Gun