Coherence
2016 is over… and we’re well on our way to getting through 2017.
In my opinion, there’s a key concept which will serve you well in any year: coherence.
I make a point of not discussing politics, because it attracts weirdoes and it’s not a good use of anyone’s time. That said the current political landscape is key to understanding today’s post.
This article is about how to make yourself less-susceptible to brainwashing, more resilient in the face of madness and it’ll also give you a step-by-step guide to making the world a better place through understanding and utilising actual human psychology.
2016: The Political Year Of Incoherence
In the United States and in Britain, vast swathes of the population had their realities utterly devastated when it turned out over half of the silent population disagreed with them.
Now… if you look at most elections and political decisions throughout history, this should be no surprise. It’s rare that ideological things aren’t split down the middle with the extremes at either end.
It was no different last year, so something else must have changed.
It’s largely correlated with the way we consume media: namely, you’re right wing so you go here and you’re left wing so you go there. It’s all basic stuff that you can read about in numerous places: search confirmation bias, echo chambers and all of those good things. The science is there and it’s al very predictable.
What’s changed is that the various media companies have become incredibly efficient at their purposes: serving you content that you want to read.
This is absolutely key to the subject I’m actually discussing today, and why I’ve used politics to sucker you in.
Facebook and Twitter are infinitely better at shaping your worldview than television was. It’s as big a leap as from print media (newspapers) to visual media, and as big a shift as from word-of-mouth to the printing press was.
That’s not an exaggeration… let it sink in and think of the implications.
Step One: Develop Coherence In Your Life
Whilst I was asleep soundly in bed, there were riots going on in some place in America because a supposed hate-speech advocate didn’t give a talk. Again… let it sink in.
You know, it was almost impossible to write that sentence. Trying to maintain an unbiased tone and linguistic choice is very difficult and the facts of these things make the news seem like a parody.
Meanwhile, every day the news hammers on about stuff that hasn’t happened and probably won’t happen. Pollsters have somehow kept their jobs despite being completely incorrect in every major event of the past few years.
Look… I struggle to talk about politics because it’s icky. Let’s get down to the good stuff.
People are rioting and redefining these terms and predicting nuclear meltdowns and all kinds of stuff that makes Cold War spy novels look utterly tame in comparison.
Now, bad things happen. A meteorite could hit the Earth tomorrow. But then it could have done that five years ago.
Ultimately, people lose their minds not because of any actual, physical threat, but instead because their subjective worldview is broken down by the possibility or in the eventuality of said event.
In simpler words… people can’t take it when reality isn’t what they think it is.
If you want to avoid trouble, then you need to do two things:
- Build competing views and actual data collection into the way you view the world.
- Be very wary of other people’s worldviews and especially groups of people’s worldviews
Also… avoid large crowds. (Only half-kidding with that one.)
Step Two: Ride The Wave Sensibly
48 Laws of Power nerds will tell you that you can manipulate the masses and be “Machiavellian” and all that rubbish.
Ignore them.
If you’re getting your news or life advice from troll sources, you’re going to lose.
Copywriting is applied psychology. You know that copywriting gets to the heart of human matters because it’s all split-tested and verified with the most important of human metrics: solid gold coins.
Obviously I don’t have access to all of the data in the world, but based on my own figures, anyone who tells you that writing controversial/outrageous troll-bait/clickbait/whatever is a profitable use of your time is absolutely wasting your time.
You aren’t building your brand or making your life better by reading or writing endless streams of political stuff. If Twitter activism is your main hobby and you’re not a grounded fifteen-year-old, then you need to re-evaluate your life.
Here’s what to do instead:
- Grab some copywriting books. (Probably start with Scientific Advertising.)
- Learn about how actual psychology works. (Also… at the same time learn a profitable and fun skill.)
- Research people that need help and build an awesome solution to their problems.
- Realise we live in a time where media is pervasive, invasive and incredibly effective.
- Use all of the above knowledge to make money, help people and live happily ever after.
- Don’t be fooled into spending time reading news stories about what’s “going to happen.” (Remember: Data first. There are infinite possibilities about what could They don’t matter.)
Final Thoughts
To reiterate, we’re living in probably-mundane times which are being hyped up to be extra-ordinary.
If you want to insulate yourself from this nonsense, then you have to do two things:
- Ensure you’re less susceptible to it by focusing on stuff that actually happens and erasing excess media baggage from your life
- Learn how the world actual works through trial and error. Work out how humans work, provide them with solutions and then surreptitiously tut in disapproval when other people fail to do so.
Ultimately, the world is going to spin with or without your approval. It’s best to work out how the world works and then succeed in it as opposed to getting upset that it isn’t going the way you want it to.