Today's blog post is about the echo chambers in MLMs and how they fuel the core principles and beliefs held by fanatical MLMers. These echo chambers are designed to reinforce thought-stopping jargon created by MLM leaders for the sole purpose of retaining membership. Echo chambers strive to silence dissenting opinions while creating a euphoria for their "businesses". Echo chambers are one of the strongest foundations of MLM, and they continue to perpetuate cognitive dissonance for the MLM members. This cognitive dissonance refers to the inability to reconcile the damage people are doing to themselves and others under the guise of helping others to achieve wealth and happiness.
Echo chambers can be regularly found in a multitude of categories. In recent news, James Damore, a former Google senior software engineer, wrote about the ideological echo chamber created in the Google work environment involving the sexes. We have echo chambers at American universities, in which opposing viewpoints to the left's agenda have been met with protests and violence. We have echo chambers in the American main stream media, in which certain media outlets choose to report on the issues they feel are important. And most importantly, with the proliferation of the internet, we have created our own echo chambers and surrounded ourselves with the information we want supported by the people we like. We have created a world which has become polarized, and we have strayed very far from the original principles of healthy dialogue.
These echo chambers impede progress and the ability to think freely. It is important to listen to people with opposing viewpoints, understand why they have those viewpoints, and then proceed to engage in dialogue. If a person cannot remove themselves from their echo chamber, then they can become victims of control. The development of this control over our thoughts and feelings is seamless and can happen very quickly. The echo chamber allows a person or group to dictate all information their followers receive, and can create a potentially damaging situation without the followers realizing they are being controlled. This also creates an inherent laziness to try and understand why a person is giving certain information, which gives more power to the leaders because the followers will not question anything.
Echo chambers are MLM leader's most powerful weapons. By creating an environment in which unquestioning obedience is mandatory, they can say and do anything without consequence. I previously attended a MLM seminar, called "Freedom Enterprise Days", in which only MLM members and recruits were allowed, and each MLM leader came out on stage with the same message. This seminar did not have a question and answer portion and the MLM leaders did not engage with the potential recruits. Instead, they showed a video that was carefully choreographed, followed by a story or monologue, and ended with thunderous applause. Each leader that approached the stage had nearly identical formulas, and they repeated this process for two and a half days. There was no ability to fact check their statistics, there was no proof their stories were truthful or relevant, and yet people listened to them with undying faith. This lack of skepticism is extremely dangerous, and it costs people billions of dollars annually.
Arguably the greatest gifts people have are free will and free thought, yet people instinctively give up these gifts regularly in the pursuit of satisfying their needs. Confidence people understand how to control others by taking the former assets away. They offer love, security, answers, and anything else a person may need due to vulnerability. It is up to each individual to be accountable for their actions. The ability to ask why, as Socrates did, is our greatest weapon to protect ourselves from intellectual predators.
Echo chambers can be regularly found in a multitude of categories. In recent news, James Damore, a former Google senior software engineer, wrote about the ideological echo chamber created in the Google work environment involving the sexes. We have echo chambers at American universities, in which opposing viewpoints to the left's agenda have been met with protests and violence. We have echo chambers in the American main stream media, in which certain media outlets choose to report on the issues they feel are important. And most importantly, with the proliferation of the internet, we have created our own echo chambers and surrounded ourselves with the information we want supported by the people we like. We have created a world which has become polarized, and we have strayed very far from the original principles of healthy dialogue.
These echo chambers impede progress and the ability to think freely. It is important to listen to people with opposing viewpoints, understand why they have those viewpoints, and then proceed to engage in dialogue. If a person cannot remove themselves from their echo chamber, then they can become victims of control. The development of this control over our thoughts and feelings is seamless and can happen very quickly. The echo chamber allows a person or group to dictate all information their followers receive, and can create a potentially damaging situation without the followers realizing they are being controlled. This also creates an inherent laziness to try and understand why a person is giving certain information, which gives more power to the leaders because the followers will not question anything.
Echo chambers are MLM leader's most powerful weapons. By creating an environment in which unquestioning obedience is mandatory, they can say and do anything without consequence. I previously attended a MLM seminar, called "Freedom Enterprise Days", in which only MLM members and recruits were allowed, and each MLM leader came out on stage with the same message. This seminar did not have a question and answer portion and the MLM leaders did not engage with the potential recruits. Instead, they showed a video that was carefully choreographed, followed by a story or monologue, and ended with thunderous applause. Each leader that approached the stage had nearly identical formulas, and they repeated this process for two and a half days. There was no ability to fact check their statistics, there was no proof their stories were truthful or relevant, and yet people listened to them with undying faith. This lack of skepticism is extremely dangerous, and it costs people billions of dollars annually.
Arguably the greatest gifts people have are free will and free thought, yet people instinctively give up these gifts regularly in the pursuit of satisfying their needs. Confidence people understand how to control others by taking the former assets away. They offer love, security, answers, and anything else a person may need due to vulnerability. It is up to each individual to be accountable for their actions. The ability to ask why, as Socrates did, is our greatest weapon to protect ourselves from intellectual predators.
It's this echo chamber effect that allows Amway and MLM leaders to make claims but never be held accountable. One in particular, was if you are "CORE" for 6 straight months in Amway, you are guaranteed to be platinum. Of course if anyone ever challenged one of these leaders because it didn't work, there would be some excuse such as you didn't follow the instructions correctly, or some other justification.
ReplyDeleteThe Amway/MLM leaders like to use the theory of "do as I say, not as I do".
Joe,
DeleteIt is a cardinal rule in business to never say the "g-word" (guarantee). Anyone offering you a guarantee should be avoided as anyone with a decent level of business acumen understands guarantees cannot exist. Words like guarantee or fool-proof are giant red flags.
Your quote definitely fits the MLM leader's modus operandi. I would potentially take it a step further and say, MLM leaders will say anything they feel a prospect needs to hear.
I recall some Amway up-line screaming "Your job is to drum up enthusiasm! Say whatever you have to say, but get those IBOs FIRED UP!"
ReplyDeleteIn other words, actual facts don't matter. Just keep shouting in the echo chamber until everybody is stunned into acquiescence.
Anonymous --
DeleteThe line you recalled was similar to my experience. In fact, they were more wishy-washy than politicians in this regard.
My best example of their inconsistencies has to do with my relationship and what they thought of it. The diamonds preached the "business" was going to strengthen your marriage, and they were completely against separation and divorce. This was supposed to be due to their strong evangelical Christian values. I was only engaged at the time, but when I told an emerald that my fiancee (now wife) did not support the Amway idea, he said it would be best to separate from her an focus on the "business". These con-artists have no shame, and they will say whatever they can, in the moment, to get what they want. It just so happened to backfire on him, and was the wake-up call I needed.
Their seminar was actually a valuable thought experiment in this regard. You could literally say the most heinous thing, such as Brad Duncan telling people it was a mathematical impossibility to become a diamond, and as long as you had loud enough music, extravagant lighting, and large enough enthusiasm from a giant crowd, then you can get away with anything. It's a completlely bizarre phenomenon, but it only works on people that are not mentally aware enough to combat this trickery.
Ironically, one of the diamonds who used the "Amway/WWDB" strengthens marriage claim, got divorced (Wolgamott).
DeleteJoe,
DeleteThat part probably got erased from the history books.
It's true. Neither Amway nor any of its LOS subsystems will ever admit to any kind of failure or setback. If a Diamond quits, or gets divorced, he simply becomes a non-person whom nobody ever mentions or talks about or even remembers.
ReplyDeleteIt's one of the scariest cultic characteristics of the Amway racket.
Anonymous --
DeleteIt is equivalent to a "Jedi Mind Trick". With the wave of a hand and unwavering eye contact, all of history can be dissolved and a new history can be created from the blank slate.