Cargo Cult

“What is a cargo cult? It’s when we imitate behaviors without understanding how they work in the hope of achieving the same results. Naturally enough, it’s not something that works.” – Are you guilty of “cargo cult” thinking without even knowing it?, Business Digest Eg. Make the language an Official Language to help it

Eg. Give welfare money and affirmative action out because that’s the same as earnings and achievements…

Eg. Productivity isn’t Productivity anymore. “Productivity = applying our taonga to deliver wellbeing.”

Eg Participation certificates for everyone. We’re all winners now!

This sort of thinking comes and goes and is hitting an all-time peak this time around. Crashing shortly.

In particular, it’s Social Constructivism. It’s the epistemology of Personality Cultures (Honour Culture and Victimhood Culture.) There is no clear abstract understanding of what makes things work. Money, technology, culture, productivity, achievement…they’re considered to be wished into or out of existence rather than built accomplishments.

“Everything has meaning only within the personal/social space. The philosophy of this is Social Constructivism. Also explains how archetypical women think.” – Personality Cultures, NZB3

Why can’t a cell phone be made out of a solid block of wood with some decoration?

Why should electronics or satellite dishes be made out of anything but vegetables if we all gather around and wish it so?

This is a whim-powered world. It only works in the social scene where manipulation of the base material, people, is possible. People will Double Think and Group Think and work harder or express less pain because of group peer pressure. Electrons, metals, muscle fibers, money, do not respond to wishful thinking. The social world that women tend to be groomed to excel in doesn’t understand and nor can it replace the material world upon which it relies.

This is why it must become exhausted. Eventually the producers of the world withdraw their wealth and support that is powering excessive Social Constructivist thinking or else just plain run out of it. The species thrives by facing real challenges, not vanity or other imaginary comforts. In history, the last big explosion of such whim-worship was  marked by a book named The Secret (Rhonda Byrne, 2006.) More than 35,000,000 copies sold of this book which affirmed the Cargo Culture premise that wishing would make it so. Now in the 2020s, the mainstream majority thinks this again. This too shall pass.

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Image ref. Tell Me About blog