The Mortal Mamba

Everyone wants to convince you of their beliefs or ideas, often using enthusiasm as a persuasive tool. This combined with cognitive biases such as the halo effect and authority bias can be very convincing. However, it is important to be critical and see through the hype to avoid falling for false or misleading information.

Cults often form from this type of convincing, with conflicting ideas being presented as the only truth. Examples of this can be seen in various industries, from tech entrepreneurs to health enthusiast to CEO to politicians.

Examples :

• A tech startup CEO promoting their new “no code” platform as the future of software development, claiming that coding will soon become obsolete.
• A crypto enthusiast preaching that fiat currency is a thing of the past and that cryptocurrencies are the future of money.
• A traditional finance expert claiming that cryptocurrencies are just a passing fad and that they will never replace traditional currency.
• A health influencer promoting a diet that emphasizes meat and dairy products, claiming that it is the key to good health and longevity.
• A plant-based advocate claiming that consuming animal products is not only harmful to one’s health but also contributes to animal cruelty and environmental degradation.
• A business leader promoting their company as the next big thing, promising unlimited growth opportunities and a supportive work environment.
• A project manager promoting a specific project as crucial for professional growth, claiming that it will bring prestige and new opportunities.
• A religious leader promoting their own version of God claiming all the positive sides of their religion and all the negative sides of other religion.

It can be difficult to resist the allure of big promises and a fear of missing out, but it is important to question the information presented and look beyond the surface level excitement.
Don’t fall for the bullshit, slow down, see through them.

Additional info :

Halo effect (Definition from Wikipedia) : The halo effect is the tendency for positive impressions of a person, company, brand, or product in one area to positively influence one’s opinion or feelings in other areas.
Some examples of the halo effect in action:

• Celebrity Endorsements: A famous movie star endorses a product and consumers are more likely to buy it because they associate the star’s positive reputation with the product.
• Physical Attractiveness: People who are deemed physically attractive are often perceived as more intelligent, friendly, and competent, regardless of their actual abilities.
• Successful Companies: The success of a company can create a positive halo effect that influences our perception of the company’s products, leadership, and work culture.
• Political Leaders: A charismatic and popular political leader can create a positive halo effect that influences our perception of their policies, even if we do not agree with them.

Authority bias (Definition from Wikipedia): Authority bias is the tendency to attribute greater accuracy to the opinion of an authority figure and be more influenced by that opinion. This could be thought of as a variation of halo effect.
Some examples of authority bias :

• Taking opinion of a financial expert for investment, even though it is no better than a random investment.
• During bad times we tend to strongly follow the rules imposed by the government thinking that they would have done their analysis and it is flawless, even though we can sense a error in those judgement.