So far we have discussed the normalcy bias, the
silver bullet syndrome and the dangers of conformity. These diverse discussions
all fit together in forming a puzzle of psychological triggers. The big picture
can come together when you have all the pieces starting to fit together.
Earl Nightingale in his classic audio series “Lead
the Field” told a story that fits this best.
“One day, a man was watching a professional football
game on television. His five-year old son kept bothering him. So the man tore
out a page of the Sunday paper. It was a full page airline ad that showed a
picture of the world – the planet Earth as seen from space. He tore up the page
into a dozen pieces and gave them to his son. He said to him, “Here, put this
picture together with this cellophane tape, and show Daddy how smart you are.”
He then went back to watching his football game. In a surprising short time,
the youngster had taped the picture back together. It wasn’t very neat, but it
was a very good job, indeed, for one so young. “Hey, that’s amazing!” the
father said. “How did you put the world together so quickly?” The little boy
said, “There was a picture of a man on the other side. I just put man together,
and then the world was all together.”
The youngster was no doubt surprised by the big,
warm hug he got. “That’s right, son,” the father said. “When the man is
altogether, his world is altogether, too.”
Becoming aware of how the big picture comes together
is a key component in making smart decisions about money. The small pieces that
are torn apart are psychological triggers that come together to form the big
picture. The sense that everything will return to “normal” (normalcy bias) is
tied to the overwhelming hope that everything will work out well (the silver
bullet syndrome), which leads directly into the complacency of conformity. It
is the end result of conformity that leads investors running like lemmings
toward a cliff.
These psychological triggers are ingrained in an
individual’s thinking process. Napoleon Hill discussed this in terms such as
accurate thinking, critical thinking and straight thinking. Hill, spoke in
terms of rarity when discussing this form of thinking. Let’s briefly look at
what Hill had written about “straight thinking.”
“Two great forces are working in the minds of all
men to make them what they are. One is social heredity, and the other is
physical heredity.
Physical heredity is the law of nature through which
the sum and substance of all characteristics, traits and physical aspects of
your ancestors, through the ages, have been handed on to you. You are
unavoidably a product of all your ancestors.
Social heredity consists of every influence with
which you will come in contact, from the time you reach a state of
consciousness until you die. Your mother’s and father’s influence, your
education, the conversations you listen to, religious influences, political
ideas, the newspapers you read, the shows you see – they all have and will help
to make you what you are. They are your social inheritance. Very few persons
have what it takes to pull away from these and do some independent, accurate
thinking for themselves. A few cast off their social inheritance and dare to be
different and individualistic. When this happens, the world has an Edison, a
Ford, a Thomas Paine, an Ingersoll or a Jonas Salk. But the vast majority of
people allow themselves to become victims of social heredity. This is why
straight thinking is such a rarity.” (Source:
PMA Science of Success Course. Educational Edition. 1961. Pgs.
504 & 505
Independent, accurate thinking is the absolute
benchmark for making smart decisions about money. The inoculation and
insulation from scams, fraud and predatory sales tactics direct require you to
learn how to become independent and accurate in your thinking process. The
reality of victimization is that people are unaware of the natural bias they
have formed toward conformity and the lack of independence in their thinking
process. A major part of this redundant vicious cycle is the normalcy bias, the
silver bullet syndrome and the ease of conformity.
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