This is another Xost analysis. See the previous one here.
The Xosts I pick out are starting to fall into a similar structure, so it’s worth describing that structure at a higher level of abstraction. In this structure we have a piece of wisdom and a foolish belief about the same topic. Naturally, they are approximately opposite. Our master persuader writes a post that, technically speaking, hints at the piece of wisdom. However, from the perspective of directed attention, persuasion, and manipulation, the post drives the reader toward the foolish opposite belief.
To match this structure, I will use a consistent structure in many Xost analyses. Before the paywall, I will emphasize and describe the persuasion elements that send the reader in the opposite direction from what is desired. This way the wide audience is aware of the consequences of the master persuader’s posts.
Behind the paywall, I will go over the persuasion in more depth for my subscribers. Finally, I will do a thorough explanation of the piece of wisdom as I understand it with the goal that my paid subscribers understand that piece of wisdom to their maximum desired ability.
Wisdom drives you to victory.
The hint of wisdom expressed in this post is also expressed by this image in a facile way.
It’s pretty self-explanatory. Some worthwhile endeavors manifest in their reward structure as an extended period of nothing, followed by a step function to large rewards. This formulation is too quantized for my liking, but it’s good enough for now. Here’s the Xost.
Honestly, the master persuader put so little effort into showing the essence of the piece of wisdom here that I’m giving him too much credit. There’s not a single explicit statement indicating that there are any rewards at the end of the tunnel in this post.
However, let’s go ahead and give him the benefit of the doubt. I, personally, inserted the wisdom into my interpretation of the post, so surely other people did so as well. Maybe many other people.
Let’s break down all of the ways that this post strongly pushes its readers away from putting into action this piece of wisdom which could have otherwise led those readers to victory.
The subliminal messages “quit at the first sign of resistance” and “give up” stand out. Make sure you are already familiar with “The You who is Not Your Thoughts” and “Goal Orientation, Perception, and Action” if you want to make sure you fully understand the impact of these messages.
In effect, these subliminal messages classify this process as a process where the participant “quits at the first sign of resistance” and “gives up.” There is literally no corresponding message indicating there is any reward attendant to this process.
Let’s regroup for a second. What process are we talking about, exactly? If you study the post carefully, you will see that the process is unspecified. What does that mean from the perspective of the reader? A vaguely defined description has maximum reach. It can be applied anywhere. In other words, this post encourages readers to “quit” or “give up” in literally anything they are doing where the actions of quitting or giving up could apply. This is an extraordinarily comprehensive piece of persuasive discouragement that attacks every activity that matters to the reader’s life.
As outlined in detail in “Goal Orientation, Perception, and Action,” when you assign a specific identity to an individual, or a specific description to an activity, it modulates the goal orientation of the individual with respect to his environment to the point of warping his perception of the world around him.
A person who participates in an activity which he subconsciously associates with “quitting at the first sign of resistance” and “giving up” isn’t going to last very long. Sometimes you hit the target you aren’t aiming at, but it is generally easier if you aim at the target you want to hit.
A person with a particular goal orientation literally perceives aspects of the world leading him to that goal. If he had a different goal, he would perceive different aspects of the world. Those different aspects of the world would point him closer to that new goal. They don’t determine everything, but they do matter. If nothing else, consider this a skill where if you do it properly, it at least “wouldn’t hurt.” You want every possible edge you can get, right?
Personally, I think it’s much more significant than that. I think these are powerful self-fulfilling prophecies which are difficult to shake once they have burrowed their way into your brain. Do you want to trust in my integrity and judgment? It’s up to you.
There are two additional potent pieces of pressure that our master persuader applies to this post. I will go over these shortly.
This post pulls out all the stops to reduce the probability that the reader achieves success in every difficult endeavor in the reader’s life. My simple model for explaining this is that the master persuader’s business model is to sell effective advice. By phrasing that advice in a way that overwhelmingly puts the reader into goal orientations that make it harder for the reader to follow his advice, he retains customers and bilks them for the maximum amount of money. He even gets to say, “I told you so.”
If you have a better theory, I’m all ears. Behind the paywall I will go over the persuasion in this post in greater detail. After that, I will give my fullest characterization of the wisdom hinted at by this post. I believe that with the greatest possible understanding of a phenomenon and the consequences of your actions, choosing the right path to achieve the goals you desire becomes straightforward. See you underground.