Yesterday, I wrote again about the fanatical belief systems of fools who are time and time again duped into investing in information resources which are not worthy as trusted sources (see “How to Fix a Problem (in 60 Seconds or Less)” [ https://leading.business.blog/2022/03/19/how-to-fix-a-problem-in-60-seconds-or-less ] ).
As you may recall, this is also the conclusion of the previous chapter here (“The Social Construction of Publishing“). In particular, charlatan companies manage to work both sides of an uninformed (and to some degree even illiterate) public marketplace for information. The crux of the matter should be blatantly obvious: the theory of how markets work presupposes complete information — so what are we actually talking about here?
We are talking about a religion — a belief system. In the previous chapter, I referred to it as a mythology (which is actually quite similar to the belief in the Oracle at Delphi) … in order to emphasize the storytelling aspect of the public relations efforts which are undertaken.
Let me remind ourselves of the central issue: we can be either free market participants or socially integrated in “social cohesion” networks, yet not both at the same time. The market hypothesis fails due to lacking information. What we are left with is obvious: card carrying members.
The fan boys (and fan girls) of these charlatan companies believe the hocus-pocus magic purely on faith (or — if you prefer: “allegiance”).
Add to that another fact: the switching costs are actually high (note that in Google’s propaganda in previous years, they sometimes proposed that switching costs are low — perhaps in order to mislead?). Consider replacing your smartphone. Consider replacing your email. Are these changes quick and easy, or are these technologies which bind you to the charlatan company? These are the primary data points the charlatan companies use in order to manipulate their suckers into buying the pitches they offer.
But that is not even the entire story. Oh, no: it’s just the beginning. As we have seen over the past decade or so, the charlatan companies have invested large amounts towards addicting the users to their technologies. Countless studies now unanimously come to the conclusion that the technology these charlatan companies offer (for “free“) cause serious issues comparable to severe drug addiction.
The way I see it, we ought to not pledge allegiance to these charlatan companies (or irrational brands or brand names). In contrast, I think rational people ought to pledge allegiance to rational concepts (concepts of their own choosing and thereby exercising their own free will) using socially agreed upon expressions (concepts that are meaningful in their own community’s language, again thereby expressing their own free will by choosing the language or languages they wish to use).
Socio Business blog 