The Gullibility Factor
I sometimes wonder if I am gullible. The questions how do you ever know in advance. Only experience can determine your gullibility.
Being aware of your gullibility is positive because it is a sign of learning.
Showing posts with label am I gullible. Show all posts
Showing posts with label am I gullible. Show all posts
Tuesday, 21 February 2012
Saturday, 9 January 2010
Civilian Under Cover Policeman
Hello, Hello, Hello what's going off here then? Stuart Howatson (This is NOT a picture of Mr Howatson btw) has been nicked for conning his family into believing that he was London Metroploitan Police Officer in a classic tale of gullibility. This is a great example of how con artists control the situation rather than people. Simply by setting a place at his wedding for 'his boss' the London Metropolitan Police Chief he reinforced the belief in the minds of his con victims that he really was what he claimed to be.Politeness, trust, and the desire to 'believe' are all the things a con artist preys on. If you want to avoid being gullible you need to keep a skeptical view. This doesn't mean being cynical but it does mean checking for evidence, it does mean looking after 'Me Inc.' because if you don't the con artist who really is looking after 'Me Inc.' will have you on a string.
If someone you love appears to be a Policeman and you are suspicious that they are not what they seem. Why not start thinking and acting like a Policeman yourself. The London Metropolitan Police service say they wish to recruit people who are good at:
Effective communication
Problem solving
Personal responsibility
Resilience.
amongst other things. I'm suprised they don't emphasise curiosity and skepticism too. Mind you looking at the 'managerilaist and HR tone' of their web site it seems that some of the fundamentals have got lost in in the wash of 'business school management speak'
They say they are looking for the core competences Well anyone who has actually read and understood Hamel and Prahalad will realise the things they are talking about are 'skills' not competences. Not only that core competences really relates to organisations not people! If you are a senior Met officer reading this don't be conned by your HR people!
Its also interesting that the skills relate to organisational behaviours rather than the delivery of value in terms of what the police officer is there to do. If I was in charge of the Met I would list the personal qualities as things that the person'does' not what they 'are':
i) Be open minded (which would encourage a respect for diversity and affect curiosity)
ii)Be an effective Social Influencer (much more profound than 'effective communication and teamworking'
iii) Be good at behavioral Pattern Spotting and Sense-Making (deeper than problem solving)
iv) Be Independent Self Driven concern for making a difference to people and communities
v)deter and prevent crime
vi)catch criminals (doh is that a bit too obvious!)
Monday, 2 July 2007
Gullibometer June 2007
Another month of blogging has gone by. Having read many blogs 'a pattern that connects' seems to be emerging. Seven classes of blog stand out for me:
a)I'll help you get rich Blog (all with tagging, traffic building, adsense and affiliate tricks)
b)The art and science of blogging Blog (all of which arrive at the 'it's the content stupid' conclusion after telling you 101 other ways to do it better)
c) The 'get yourself a better life' Blog, (that have a broad mix of spiritual awakening to cognitive behavioural 'work arounds' - known a s're-framing' in the trade to help you see yourself in a better light)
d) Technical Blog ( code, gadgets and other specialised stuff)
e) This is me and my life Blogs (often quirky, sometimes very personal, frequently rants, often about my hobbies - have you seen the one on 'knots'!!??)
f) Management Skills Blogs (leadership, teamwork, resourceful humans, human resources
creativity, innovation, strategic thinking, strategy tools and techniques, marketing, sales, process improvement)
g) Life Skills Blogs (relationship sense making, thinking skills, provocative outlooks, social psychology, philosophy)
h) Hard Science Blogs (ranging from astronomy, to nano-technology and anything 'squidgy' and celluar in between)
i) Humour Blogs (ranging from people who think they are funny and should stick to the day job, and some highly original stuff such as Overheard in New York) - this category was suggested by Dan after reading this post via a link on The Wrong Advices - cheers Dan
Now there are millions of people with lots of extremely interesting and informed points of view and I have reached a mini crisis. In the lifecycle of blogging perhaps I am following a 'norm' here. I've reached a sort of 'So What' crisis. What I thought might might be interesting and relevant to people is often covered and explained better by others, the things I wanted to say have probably been said (have they?) I have the strong sense that I don't know very much at all, and that what I do know is sort of very obvious. Its amazing really and maybe here's the irony...I've been given the biggest soap box in the world and I can say what I want, as loud as want, how I want, to whoever I want, and at the moment 20 people a day on average are listening. Mind you that's 20 people I never had contact with before.
Now here's my quote folks. Warhol said that eveyone would get 15 minutes of fame. Reasonable Robinson says Web 2.0 has changed all of that now everyone has the opportunity for 24/7 fame Pass it on and make me famous!! lol
You might probably sense that my blogging style is changing over time too, and so getting back to the 'bloggers lifecycle' (and I'll evolve this overtime too) I see the following phases.
1 WOW!................... I've got a new toy lets see what it does
2 NOW HEAR THIS.......... What I have to say is really important to me and you
3 I'M GONNA BE RICH...... So, 10 cents from 75 million bloggers equals....
4 PEOPLE LIKE ME......... I've connected, someone in Antarctica has read my blog
5 RUNNING OUT OF STEAM... Not much more to say. Out of ammo over here.
6 CELEBRITY FIX.......... Now I realise why Hello magazine is a good business model
7 CELEBRITY FIX 2........ Become a 'Bloggerazzi' chase those Digg & Reddit stories
8 OLD SOLDIER............ When I first started blogging, 'the horror', 'the horror'
9 THIS IS ME............. I'm past the 'elevator pitch' now, just gonna chat now
10 ?????????
off to work now - bye!
Monday, 18 June 2007
Am I Gullible?
I've devised this simple 'sanity -check' (Gulli-Grid tm) – as way of judging how gullible you might be:For each statement decide Always, Often, Sometimes, Rarely, Never to describe your typical reaction. If you predmoninantly answer Always, Often; then you approach situations uncritically, if Rarely, Never; then you are less likely to being duped. If you answer 'Never' to most it is likely that people will regard you as cynical, and you drink alot of beer on your own.
The other party knows more about this subject than me
I place total trust in what the other party tells me
I have to take the word of the other party
I have no independent proof of claims
I believe vague promises about future events
I am restricted from discussing matters with others
My other sources are ‘put down’ or ‘smeared’
I never ask probing questions
I feel frustrated when asking questions
What I’m told doesn’t stack up with what I see
I believe that the other person(s) are open & honest
I think that people have hidden agenda's
I believe it when people say their plans will benefit me
I seek out a ‘hidden agenda’
I think that if someone has been truthful before they will be truthful in future
I think Sales and marketing people have my interests in mind
I conduct research prior to getting involved in anything
I seek out a second, or third opinions on information that is presented to me
I get references or endorsements on people I don't know well
I depend on the other people for reward & esteem
Tuesday, 29 May 2007
Admission of Gullibility
After sitting and pondering about what I've seen so far in the blogosphere I'm developing the view that it was pretty gullible of me to think that I had something different and new to share with people about the subjects that interested me. It seems clear to me that there a huge numbers of thoughtful and experienced people who have some really useful stuff to say on the 'human condition'
As I explore more, the less I seem to know and the less certain I feel about what I know.
Now, there are a few things I can fall back on to help me make some sense of these observations...Firstly from 'marketing' the fact that the blogosphere is a relatively new phenomenon means that it is populated by 'innovators' at this time, and so it is probable that they/we are predisposed to self development, and exploration of new ideas. Secondly from 'adult education' there is the recognition that the more you uncover, the more you realise there is more to uncover, Thirdly study of'philosophy of social science' makes you aware that there a relatively few individuals who come up with groundbreaking original thinking.
So where does this leave me? I touched on this issue in post 1, and it concerns who is 'my audience'? Well, if I think of the blogosphere as a world of interconnected 'platforms' upon which people can stand and move to others, Gullibility is simply a 'platform' that is of use to those who need it at that moment,and something they can use to 'reach' other platforms as their interest develops. This means that whilst I might be standing on the ideas of others (sic) I am also original in that I am collecting ideas on a theme, commenting in them and opening doors and showing paths onward for others to take as they wish.
So - Gullible in a misplaced sense of pure originality, innovative in the sense of being a 'platform' architect that whoever would like to can stand on for a while...
As I explore more, the less I seem to know and the less certain I feel about what I know.
Now, there are a few things I can fall back on to help me make some sense of these observations...Firstly from 'marketing' the fact that the blogosphere is a relatively new phenomenon means that it is populated by 'innovators' at this time, and so it is probable that they/we are predisposed to self development, and exploration of new ideas. Secondly from 'adult education' there is the recognition that the more you uncover, the more you realise there is more to uncover, Thirdly study of'philosophy of social science' makes you aware that there a relatively few individuals who come up with groundbreaking original thinking.
So where does this leave me? I touched on this issue in post 1, and it concerns who is 'my audience'? Well, if I think of the blogosphere as a world of interconnected 'platforms' upon which people can stand and move to others, Gullibility is simply a 'platform' that is of use to those who need it at that moment,and something they can use to 'reach' other platforms as their interest develops. This means that whilst I might be standing on the ideas of others (sic) I am also original in that I am collecting ideas on a theme, commenting in them and opening doors and showing paths onward for others to take as they wish.
So - Gullible in a misplaced sense of pure originality, innovative in the sense of being a 'platform' architect that whoever would like to can stand on for a while...
Saturday, 26 May 2007
Control of Dihydrogen Monoxide Demanded
A fascinating discussion of the psychology of Gullibility includes the story of how two years ago 14-year-old Nathan Zohner, a student at Eagle Rock Junior High in Idaho Falls demanded strict control of this substance that caused excessive sweating and vomiting, can be lethal if accidentally inhaled, contributes to erosion amongst other effects.This story that has been posted circa 10 times on Digg News.
read more | digg story
Sunday, 6 May 2007
How gullible are you?
A test to see exactly how gullible are you, Based 100% on facts, and yes it's true
read more | digg story
read more | digg story
101 Ways to Avoid Being Gullible
1. Make regular visits to your mind gym, in the same way that you care for your physical wellbeing, do things to care for and develop your intellectual well being.
2. Put time and energy into continuous learning about the diversity of opinions and findings in the social sciences, especially, social psychology, general philosophy, adult learning, and marketing, because this will help you understand your fellow humans better than the arm – chair, bar stool and daytime TV theorists.
3. Stop taking things at face value . Always try and assess the standpoint, motivation and methods of others, regardless of their personal appeal and the appeal of their ideas.
4. Study the subject known as ‘critical thinking’, you might begin by reading, Critical Thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument by Stella Cottrell
5. Learn how to learn. Study adult learning through the ideas of Malcolm Knowles, Kolb, Jack Mezirow, Light and Cox. Information like this will help you make sense of ‘how’ we learn not just ‘what’ we learn.
6. Put time and energy into learning about how the mind works, begin by reading Steven Pinker’s How the Mind Works
7. Read Eric Fromm’s To Have and to Be and learn more about critical theory.
8. Become familiar with the idea of ‘Deutero’ learning, or learning how to learn. You will find the original idea in Steps to and Ecology of Mind written by Gregory Bateson
9. Research the notions of Influence and Persuasion. Robert Cialdini and Kevin Hogan are good reads, because the you will understand how fresh, new and amazing your thinking will become, and that will be to your advantage.
10. Stop believing that you’ve reached a place where you think you know it all. Complacency leaves us vulnerable to lazy generalisations and a sloppy belief that we are beyond being fooled by others.
11. Learn how to explore what people mean through the tools and techniques of Neuro-Linguistic Programming , understand the role of meta –messages, generalisation, distortion and deletion in communication and opinion forming.
12. You will know, of course, to become conversant with the ideas and principles of non-therapeutic hypnosis and how advertiser, sales and other professionals use it to influence our thinking.
13. Critically read a minimum of 12 so called ‘self-help’ books with your feet firmly on the ground.
14. Visit www.changingminds.org
15. Always ask for a second opinion
16. Always ask for a third opinion
17. If it’s too good to be true, then it probably isn’t.
18. Trust your ‘inner rudder’ and read Dan Goleman
19. Learn about sales ‘closing techniques’
20. Learn about SPIN selling
21. Learn about Miller Heimanns Strategic selling
22. Identify a good university and study for an MBA that doesn’t teach ‘cookie cutter’ management and develop your self
23. Never make an instant decision (unless its to save your life)
24. Trust no one until they can be trusted
25. Be courteous and respectful whilst trusting no one
26. Don’t be embarrassed or afraid to get any contract looked over by a brief
27. If someone declares offence at the time you’re taking to make a decision, be careful.
28. If someone you don’t know very well gives you an unexpected gift, be careful.
29. Always suspect a hidden agenda.
30. Strengthen your general knowledge concerning how people are motivated, think and communicate , don't become a 'techo-twit' with just particular subject of expertise, such as engineering, gardening, learning the guitar etc
31. Lessen your reliance on others for what happens in your life. Never allow your boss to convince you that your, lifestyle, income and future are dependent on him/her.
32. Regularly visit http://gullibility.blogspot.com/ for a general resource on the notion of gullibility and tell your friends too.
33. Research the idea of the JOHARI Window, this will help you map out what you know, and don’t know about yourself and others
34. Learn to recognise other people’s mental models’ or mental maps’ this will reveal to you what they regard as important and how they decide what causes things to happen in the world.
35. Become familiar with the thing with scary name called ‘epistemology’. Usually this lives in the lecture and seminar rooms of universities. For those of you who don’t know, it concerns the subject of how we know what we know.
36. Become familiar with the other scary name ‘ontology’ which is the study of what features we think are important enough to put on our mental maps. This list is an ‘ontology’ of 101 things that I think are important about Gullibility. Your ontology might be different.
37. Continually ponder on the question ‘What is Truth’
38. Find out what a ‘justified belief’ is
39. Research how we use perception, memory, reason and testimony to determine what we know.
40. Think of something you have always believed and challenge it.
41. Ask is ‘buy one get one free’ a good deal. Buy what YOU need not what the retailers need you to buy.
42. If a discount sale ‘has got to end this Saturday’ – let it end and wait for the next ‘never to be had again deal’
43. If a salesperson starts telling you what you need, walk away.
44. Trust me, if someone says ‘trust me’ be very careful.
45. Learn magic tricks, this will teach you people can trade on your assumptions about time series, and reality to fool and surprise you.
46. Read Jeffery Deaver’s The Vanished Man to learn about a magician’s use of ‘misdirection’
47. Read Kevin Hogan’s books and learn about the power of the word ‘because’, because this will show you how people can get their own way.
48. For an interesting account of brain washing read Ed Schein’s work on Korean War POWs.
49. For an interesting account of the perils of un-critically believing in one ‘supreme’ method of analysis, read about Robert S. McNamara’s account of how ‘every quantitative method he had showed he was winning the Vietnam war’
50. Read more than one newspaper.
51. Be mindful of language that is used by others to construct your world for you. Consider euphemisms such as ‘mega-death’, ‘terminate with extreme prejudice’, ‘interdiction’, great value’, ‘team work’, ‘company culture’, for their meaning to you.
52. When given alternatives between either/ or, reconsider how you might achieve both/ and.
53. Consider if a man in a white coat with a stethoscope around his neck is a doctor.
54. Consider if a woman without a white coat and no stethoscope in an A&E cubicle saving someone’s life is a mother
55. Consider, the moon is made of green cheese, Mt Everest is the highest mountain in the world, Napoleon invaded Russia. How do you know ?
56. If someone says ‘trust me I’m a doctor’ what are they? My friend has a Phd in Facilities Management and he is a doctor.
57. Whenever anybody uses jargon, don’t be embarrassed or afraid to ask them to explain what they mean. If they put you down because you asked, be careful of them.
58. Ask yourself, what is a job title? Notice how it works like a micro brand label that requires us to suspend critical thinking about what the person really does. I can say this with conviction as the Director of Lexiconographic Diversity and Insight in the corporation.
59. Learn the basics of project management. Never allow artisans to work on your home without setting out project purpose, milestones, and how slippage and variance will be managed, before the job starts.
60. If someone offers you shares in private company, remember they are worthless until the company is sold.
61. If your wife/ girlfriend says, “he’s just a friend and he really makes me laugh”, consider getting a new wife/ girlfriend.
62. If your partner changes routine patterns of behaviour, consider the reasons for this change and do not excuse them away as ‘just your imagination’
63. Consider if the Sun is really a hot stone bigger than Peloponnesian Islands or a ball of helium and hydrogen. How do you know this?
64. Did you know the streets of London are paved with gold? Don’t believe me? Ask Dick Whittington.
65. Do you know what ‘force majeure’ is?
66. If you are a supplier to a major retail chain and they ask you what percentage of your revenue they represent and that they would like to become 60% of your revenue. Don’t be flattered and go looking for a new yacht, soon you won’t have enough profit to buy one.
67. People with degrees are clever. Of course this depends on what you mean by clever.
68. Find out what Kuhn meant when he talks of incommensurability of paradigm. In fact find out what he meant by paradigm and shift your paradigm.
69. Read about memetic levels and how different meme states interact / or not with each other in Beck and Cowan’s book Spiral Dynamics.
70. Frederick Reicheld claims that winning customers is more expensive than keeping them. Every CRM marketing executive knows this, but are they right? Checkout Professor Ehrenberg and the Ehrenberg Centre for Research in Marketing for an alternative view.
71. Knowing about the key principles of Transactional Analysis will provide you with insights about how people draw help from others. Study the notion of rescuing here. To stop others benefiting from your efforts don’t be ‘gulled’ into rescuing them.
72. Be critical of HR personality tests. They have their place of course. Become aware of the epistemological commitments they are based upon. i.e. why their advocates believe they are useful. Recognise that they are ‘characterisations’ at a point in time and not the real you.
73. The Blebin tests have been proven to have as much predictable accuracy as a horoscope
74. If you have time read an introduction to Carl Jung.
75. The Myers Briggs typologies are inspired by Jung and knowing how they are constructed will help you counterbalance the ambitions of the personnel police in your organisation.
76. Do you think Malcolm Gladwell created the notion of ‘tipping point’? Why?
77. Did you know that the North Vietnamese declaration of independence for the French after WW2 was based on the American Declaration of Independence?
78. Have you noticed how home sales / real estate companies only sell ‘luxury’ apartments and accommodation?
79. Read about Diogenes – the original cynic. A cool dude! Especially if you like barrels and lupins.
80. “If a person swallows the heart of a mole, fresh from the body and still palpitating, he will receive the gift of divination…and a foreknowledge of future events.” AD 77 PLINY Why not give it a go? OK so you aren’t that gullible then!
81. Are you able to define the difference between, belief, knowledge and dogma? To avoid gullibility you should try to do this.
82. Learn about different ‘thinking’ styles. Systemic Thinking, read Peter Senge, Radiant Thinking read Tony Buzan, Outcome Based Thinking read Bandler and Grinder.
83. Did you know that Marketing is a word that means two things at the same time. It is a business philosophy and a business function. The business philosophy is the most important of the two.
84. Ask for clarity
85. Ask yourself, how do I grow my customer base beyond family and friends if I’m given a ‘network marketing ‘opportunity? If you can’t answer this question, be careful.
86. Study the ‘illusion of control’ by Langar. This will explain ways in which we wrongly believe we can control outcomes of events. This is especially true with gambling.
87. Find out if Sophie is real or fictional in Jostein Gaarders book Sophies World.
88. You are clever, knowledgeable, well liked, good at some things and struggle with others. Sometimes you are misunderstood. You are familiar with the Forer Effect and know that it is sometimes called the Barnum Effect. This is why you are not gullible.
89. The Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus) is a small primate that lives in central and south America. Studied by Professor D. Ploog, he noticed that the alpha male only responds to threats from the beat male and no other males. Who really listens to what you are saying? Are you reverential to alpha monkeys.
90. Watch the BBC TV documentary on the spaghetti harvest
91. Look at possessions you have. Which of these did you really need to buy? Reflect on the decisions you made. What influenced you to buy? What would you do differently today?
92. Read Donald Schon’s book The Reflective Practioner. This will guide you in your endeavours to reduce your gullibility.
93. Test how instantly you jump to conclusions. Try Sherif’s Social Judgement Theory, to see how willingly you accept or reject ideas and suggestions. For example, do you agree with Shaw and Merrick (2005) that marketing people are false, immoral scoundrels?
94. Don’t be lulled into believing that power and authority can be ignored. People who are privileged in this regard can determine beliefs that we might be compelled to go along with for a time. You might need to keep your job, or something more serious. Contradicting these messages amounts to a heresy and we all know what happens to heretics.
95. Sometimes it pays to play the fool. Witness King Lear, and I Claudius. Appearing gullible is not the same as being gullible.
96. Be a realist. There are people that will have no qualms about taking advantage of your good nature or your weakness. Make every decision a conscious decision.
97. Be aware of your sub-conscious expectations. People let you down only if you allow them to manage your expectations.
98. Always remember that if you are big fish in a small pond, you will be a small fish if you swim somewhere else
99. Be good at Poker
100. Keep believing in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy for the sake of innocence
101. If you have found the previous 100 suggestions of value, you might wish to try out a short exercise in experiential learning to see how you rate?
Go to your living room, put your pants on your head, do three summersaults and yell at the top of voice 'I Love Sanjaya' for three minutes, this will bring the god of warmth and happiness into your life and 'de-gull' your home forever
2. Put time and energy into continuous learning about the diversity of opinions and findings in the social sciences, especially, social psychology, general philosophy, adult learning, and marketing, because this will help you understand your fellow humans better than the arm – chair, bar stool and daytime TV theorists.
3. Stop taking things at face value . Always try and assess the standpoint, motivation and methods of others, regardless of their personal appeal and the appeal of their ideas.
4. Study the subject known as ‘critical thinking’, you might begin by reading, Critical Thinking Skills: Developing Effective Analysis and Argument by Stella Cottrell
5. Learn how to learn. Study adult learning through the ideas of Malcolm Knowles, Kolb, Jack Mezirow, Light and Cox. Information like this will help you make sense of ‘how’ we learn not just ‘what’ we learn.
6. Put time and energy into learning about how the mind works, begin by reading Steven Pinker’s How the Mind Works
7. Read Eric Fromm’s To Have and to Be and learn more about critical theory.
8. Become familiar with the idea of ‘Deutero’ learning, or learning how to learn. You will find the original idea in Steps to and Ecology of Mind written by Gregory Bateson
9. Research the notions of Influence and Persuasion. Robert Cialdini and Kevin Hogan are good reads, because the you will understand how fresh, new and amazing your thinking will become, and that will be to your advantage.
10. Stop believing that you’ve reached a place where you think you know it all. Complacency leaves us vulnerable to lazy generalisations and a sloppy belief that we are beyond being fooled by others.
11. Learn how to explore what people mean through the tools and techniques of Neuro-Linguistic Programming , understand the role of meta –messages, generalisation, distortion and deletion in communication and opinion forming.
12. You will know, of course, to become conversant with the ideas and principles of non-therapeutic hypnosis and how advertiser, sales and other professionals use it to influence our thinking.
13. Critically read a minimum of 12 so called ‘self-help’ books with your feet firmly on the ground.
14. Visit www.changingminds.org
15. Always ask for a second opinion
16. Always ask for a third opinion
17. If it’s too good to be true, then it probably isn’t.
18. Trust your ‘inner rudder’ and read Dan Goleman
19. Learn about sales ‘closing techniques’
20. Learn about SPIN selling
21. Learn about Miller Heimanns Strategic selling
22. Identify a good university and study for an MBA that doesn’t teach ‘cookie cutter’ management and develop your self
23. Never make an instant decision (unless its to save your life)
24. Trust no one until they can be trusted
25. Be courteous and respectful whilst trusting no one
26. Don’t be embarrassed or afraid to get any contract looked over by a brief
27. If someone declares offence at the time you’re taking to make a decision, be careful.
28. If someone you don’t know very well gives you an unexpected gift, be careful.
29. Always suspect a hidden agenda.
30. Strengthen your general knowledge concerning how people are motivated, think and communicate , don't become a 'techo-twit' with just particular subject of expertise, such as engineering, gardening, learning the guitar etc
31. Lessen your reliance on others for what happens in your life. Never allow your boss to convince you that your, lifestyle, income and future are dependent on him/her.
32. Regularly visit http://gullibility.blogspot.com/ for a general resource on the notion of gullibility and tell your friends too.
33. Research the idea of the JOHARI Window, this will help you map out what you know, and don’t know about yourself and others
34. Learn to recognise other people’s mental models’ or mental maps’ this will reveal to you what they regard as important and how they decide what causes things to happen in the world.
35. Become familiar with the thing with scary name called ‘epistemology’. Usually this lives in the lecture and seminar rooms of universities. For those of you who don’t know, it concerns the subject of how we know what we know.
36. Become familiar with the other scary name ‘ontology’ which is the study of what features we think are important enough to put on our mental maps. This list is an ‘ontology’ of 101 things that I think are important about Gullibility. Your ontology might be different.
37. Continually ponder on the question ‘What is Truth’
38. Find out what a ‘justified belief’ is
39. Research how we use perception, memory, reason and testimony to determine what we know.
40. Think of something you have always believed and challenge it.
41. Ask is ‘buy one get one free’ a good deal. Buy what YOU need not what the retailers need you to buy.
42. If a discount sale ‘has got to end this Saturday’ – let it end and wait for the next ‘never to be had again deal’
43. If a salesperson starts telling you what you need, walk away.
44. Trust me, if someone says ‘trust me’ be very careful.
45. Learn magic tricks, this will teach you people can trade on your assumptions about time series, and reality to fool and surprise you.
46. Read Jeffery Deaver’s The Vanished Man to learn about a magician’s use of ‘misdirection’
47. Read Kevin Hogan’s books and learn about the power of the word ‘because’, because this will show you how people can get their own way.
48. For an interesting account of brain washing read Ed Schein’s work on Korean War POWs.
49. For an interesting account of the perils of un-critically believing in one ‘supreme’ method of analysis, read about Robert S. McNamara’s account of how ‘every quantitative method he had showed he was winning the Vietnam war’
50. Read more than one newspaper.
51. Be mindful of language that is used by others to construct your world for you. Consider euphemisms such as ‘mega-death’, ‘terminate with extreme prejudice’, ‘interdiction’, great value’, ‘team work’, ‘company culture’, for their meaning to you.
52. When given alternatives between either/ or, reconsider how you might achieve both/ and.
53. Consider if a man in a white coat with a stethoscope around his neck is a doctor.
54. Consider if a woman without a white coat and no stethoscope in an A&E cubicle saving someone’s life is a mother
55. Consider, the moon is made of green cheese, Mt Everest is the highest mountain in the world, Napoleon invaded Russia. How do you know ?
56. If someone says ‘trust me I’m a doctor’ what are they? My friend has a Phd in Facilities Management and he is a doctor.
57. Whenever anybody uses jargon, don’t be embarrassed or afraid to ask them to explain what they mean. If they put you down because you asked, be careful of them.
58. Ask yourself, what is a job title? Notice how it works like a micro brand label that requires us to suspend critical thinking about what the person really does. I can say this with conviction as the Director of Lexiconographic Diversity and Insight in the corporation.
59. Learn the basics of project management. Never allow artisans to work on your home without setting out project purpose, milestones, and how slippage and variance will be managed, before the job starts.
60. If someone offers you shares in private company, remember they are worthless until the company is sold.
61. If your wife/ girlfriend says, “he’s just a friend and he really makes me laugh”, consider getting a new wife/ girlfriend.
62. If your partner changes routine patterns of behaviour, consider the reasons for this change and do not excuse them away as ‘just your imagination’
63. Consider if the Sun is really a hot stone bigger than Peloponnesian Islands or a ball of helium and hydrogen. How do you know this?
64. Did you know the streets of London are paved with gold? Don’t believe me? Ask Dick Whittington.
65. Do you know what ‘force majeure’ is?
66. If you are a supplier to a major retail chain and they ask you what percentage of your revenue they represent and that they would like to become 60% of your revenue. Don’t be flattered and go looking for a new yacht, soon you won’t have enough profit to buy one.
67. People with degrees are clever. Of course this depends on what you mean by clever.
68. Find out what Kuhn meant when he talks of incommensurability of paradigm. In fact find out what he meant by paradigm and shift your paradigm.
69. Read about memetic levels and how different meme states interact / or not with each other in Beck and Cowan’s book Spiral Dynamics.
70. Frederick Reicheld claims that winning customers is more expensive than keeping them. Every CRM marketing executive knows this, but are they right? Checkout Professor Ehrenberg and the Ehrenberg Centre for Research in Marketing for an alternative view.
71. Knowing about the key principles of Transactional Analysis will provide you with insights about how people draw help from others. Study the notion of rescuing here. To stop others benefiting from your efforts don’t be ‘gulled’ into rescuing them.
72. Be critical of HR personality tests. They have their place of course. Become aware of the epistemological commitments they are based upon. i.e. why their advocates believe they are useful. Recognise that they are ‘characterisations’ at a point in time and not the real you.
73. The Blebin tests have been proven to have as much predictable accuracy as a horoscope
74. If you have time read an introduction to Carl Jung.
75. The Myers Briggs typologies are inspired by Jung and knowing how they are constructed will help you counterbalance the ambitions of the personnel police in your organisation.
76. Do you think Malcolm Gladwell created the notion of ‘tipping point’? Why?
77. Did you know that the North Vietnamese declaration of independence for the French after WW2 was based on the American Declaration of Independence?
78. Have you noticed how home sales / real estate companies only sell ‘luxury’ apartments and accommodation?
79. Read about Diogenes – the original cynic. A cool dude! Especially if you like barrels and lupins.
80. “If a person swallows the heart of a mole, fresh from the body and still palpitating, he will receive the gift of divination…and a foreknowledge of future events.” AD 77 PLINY Why not give it a go? OK so you aren’t that gullible then!
81. Are you able to define the difference between, belief, knowledge and dogma? To avoid gullibility you should try to do this.
82. Learn about different ‘thinking’ styles. Systemic Thinking, read Peter Senge, Radiant Thinking read Tony Buzan, Outcome Based Thinking read Bandler and Grinder.
83. Did you know that Marketing is a word that means two things at the same time. It is a business philosophy and a business function. The business philosophy is the most important of the two.
84. Ask for clarity
85. Ask yourself, how do I grow my customer base beyond family and friends if I’m given a ‘network marketing ‘opportunity? If you can’t answer this question, be careful.
86. Study the ‘illusion of control’ by Langar. This will explain ways in which we wrongly believe we can control outcomes of events. This is especially true with gambling.
87. Find out if Sophie is real or fictional in Jostein Gaarders book Sophies World.
88. You are clever, knowledgeable, well liked, good at some things and struggle with others. Sometimes you are misunderstood. You are familiar with the Forer Effect and know that it is sometimes called the Barnum Effect. This is why you are not gullible.
89. The Squirrel Monkey (Saimiri sciureus) is a small primate that lives in central and south America. Studied by Professor D. Ploog, he noticed that the alpha male only responds to threats from the beat male and no other males. Who really listens to what you are saying? Are you reverential to alpha monkeys.
90. Watch the BBC TV documentary on the spaghetti harvest
91. Look at possessions you have. Which of these did you really need to buy? Reflect on the decisions you made. What influenced you to buy? What would you do differently today?
92. Read Donald Schon’s book The Reflective Practioner. This will guide you in your endeavours to reduce your gullibility.
93. Test how instantly you jump to conclusions. Try Sherif’s Social Judgement Theory, to see how willingly you accept or reject ideas and suggestions. For example, do you agree with Shaw and Merrick (2005) that marketing people are false, immoral scoundrels?
94. Don’t be lulled into believing that power and authority can be ignored. People who are privileged in this regard can determine beliefs that we might be compelled to go along with for a time. You might need to keep your job, or something more serious. Contradicting these messages amounts to a heresy and we all know what happens to heretics.
95. Sometimes it pays to play the fool. Witness King Lear, and I Claudius. Appearing gullible is not the same as being gullible.
96. Be a realist. There are people that will have no qualms about taking advantage of your good nature or your weakness. Make every decision a conscious decision.
97. Be aware of your sub-conscious expectations. People let you down only if you allow them to manage your expectations.
98. Always remember that if you are big fish in a small pond, you will be a small fish if you swim somewhere else
99. Be good at Poker
100. Keep believing in Santa Claus and the Tooth Fairy for the sake of innocence
101. If you have found the previous 100 suggestions of value, you might wish to try out a short exercise in experiential learning to see how you rate?
Go to your living room, put your pants on your head, do three summersaults and yell at the top of voice 'I Love Sanjaya' for three minutes, this will bring the god of warmth and happiness into your life and 'de-gull' your home forever
Saturday, 21 April 2007
The School of Hard Knocks
Watch out for our 'Gullible' logo, this will signify personal examples.In an earlier post we explained how we started looking back at personal examples of our own gullibilty and how we began to try and make sense of what had happened. What do you think was going off in the following examples? Have you got any examples of your own that you are willing to share?
The purpose of these examples will be to draw out similarities and differences over time with a view to identifying helpful 'pattern's that we could benefit from.
Example:
I worked in a company as Sales and Marketing Director with a direct report (marketing services executive) who was looking to improve her renumeration package. The two of us went to lunch with the Managing Director (very charming and likeable guy). Over lunch he asked the executive the following question.
"So, if you had a company car, what car would you like?" to which, of course she replied with an example of make and model.
After the meal we were chatting and I sensed that something bad was looming and tried to gently explain that the meeting was 'off the record' and that nothing too firm should be taken from it.
3 months later the executive came into my office, frustrated, angry and upset that no car had been forthcoming. I wa 'bothered' about this too, so went to see what was happening with the boss, and his reply was...
"All I did was ask her was IF she had a company car, what would she like, I wasn't offering her a car!" OUCH!
OK so who do you think was Gullible here? How did it happen? Was any of it intentional or preventable? Comments appreciated.
The next example:
Working for the same company, I was a shareholder (10%) of a management buyout team. The key phrase was "We just need to work hard for 4 years, and when we sell the company and you'll be a millionaire' Guess who uttered this little gem? On the basis of that prospect the directors drew down very modest salaries, and took minimal pay increases, and no dividends. 8 years later, and even after making good profits, the lending bank sold the company from under us and we walked away with nothing. OUCH! What should be learned form this experience?
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