Fear sells

[jmore1276]

When considering the facts, consider the source. When considering the source, consider the sponsor behind it. Fear is always a big seller...especially when no-one can afford to buy anything else. Ironic isn't it? Sadly there are folks out there that actually profit from others fears and woes. Keep your wits about you and don't try to control things that are out of your control. I'm not a religious person, but I can't say enough about the "Serenity Prayer". It's not just a prayer but it's a great philosophy especially in these bad economic times. May we all find peace in the near term and prosperity in the long. Have a great day and be safe.

 

[ATeam]

When considering the facts, consider the source.

Not to put too fine of a point in this, but when I consider the facts, I consider the facts. The source is irrelevant. That's what makes a fact a fact. It stands on its own.

 

[jmore1276]

Not to put too fine of a point in this, but when I consider the facts, I consider the facts. The source is irrelevant. That's what makes a fact a fact. It stands on its own.

Facts can be half truths too. You can use a fact and leave out another fact and make it look like the complete truth.Kinda like statistics...you can make a chart that shows a 1% difference look huge or minuscule. Many "facts" are relative. You can push thru a bill in congress and attach some bs to it, then say the "fact" is this guy voted against tax cuts...for ex. even though he was voting against the bs attached to the tax cuts. That's why I say...check the source. I prefer sources with no commercial motives or special interests behind them. Yes...I know..."Good Luck" right? I just do my best to find the least bias I can and try to look at it from all points of view before deciding if it's good info.

 

[RLENT]

Joe,

You are a wise man indeed

Many would do well to heed your advice.

 

[piper1]

Just when you are told the sky is falling and the end is near, look outside, things are generally OK.

Remember when everything wasn't automatically a "crisis" on the news? Fear sells in a world of info-tainment, I doubt there is any unbiased news left in the world.

 

[atlas1220]

jmore1276 - what a refreshing statement. Always open to thought prevoking dialog.

A great departure from the typical cut & paste and the false'ly implied.... Google'd up nonsense we often read here.

 

[x06col]

Yessir, figgures don't lie, but, liers do in fact figgure. Jes need to look at xy, and z, steada jes x and y. Or, y and z. Funny, ain't it??

 

[jujubeans]

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=+3]The Serenity Prayer[/SIZE][/FONT]​

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]God grant me the serenity [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]to accept the things I cannot change; [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]courage to change the things I can;[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]and wisdom to know the difference. [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Living one day at a time; [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Enjoying one moment at a time; [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace; [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Taking, as He did, this sinful world[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]as it is, not as I would have it; [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Trusting that He will make all things right[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]if I surrender to His Will;[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]That I may be reasonably happy in this life [/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]and supremely happy with Him[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Forever in the next.[/FONT]
[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif]Amen.[/FONT]

[FONT=Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif][SIZE=-1]--Reinhold Niebuhr[/SIZE][/FONT]





​

 

[mypie]

Not to put too fine of a point in this, but when I consider the facts, I consider the facts. The source is irrelevant. That's what makes a fact a fact. It stands on its own.

I too consider the facts, however, one moved comma or a half statement taken from the middle of a paragraph or adding interpretation where none was meant because clearity was not incorporated can change the entire meaning of a fact. Diane is an atty, I was a legal admin. This is what I believe Joe was referring to when he stated "Fear Sells". For those who do not understand the facts and only hear the misinterpretation of the facts - it can be very scary.

 

[ATeam]

I'm trying to get at the distinction between facts and sources. For example, someone says, "My pastor read from the Bible that, 'In the beginning, God created heavens and the earth.'"

If you consider the source and trust the pastor and the Bible, that's pretty much it. As far as you are concerned, God created the heavens and the earth. But if you are more rigorous about facts, like I tend to be, you scrutinize the statement.

1. Is it a fact that your pastor read from the Bible? That is an easy statement to verify as factual or not.

2. Is it a fact that your pastor read the exact words quoted above? That too can be easily verified by going to the Bible and seeing first if those words are indeed there for him or her to read, and then finding out if he or she read them (item 1).

3. That gets us past the pastor and the Bible -- past the sources in other words -- to the core issue,: "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth." Once you are past the sources, you can then consider the standing of the statement as factual or unfactual.

So too with statements like "Goodyear tires outlast other brands." Do you accept something like that as fact because of the sources or because the statement can be factually verified independent of the sources?

Pay no attention to the man behind this post. I majored in philosophy in college and delighted in spending endless hours in discussions like this with my fellow philosophy majors. If you want to believe something is true because you trust the source, knock yourself out. You are probably no worse off than those who claim to be objective in forming their beliefs.

The fact is, human beings can rationalize almost anything. Not only do people come to regard their beliefs as fact, many do so to the extent that they will fight and die before even considering how the beliefs were formed that motivate them to fight ... and that's a fact!

 

[mypie]

Point made, taken and agreed upon.

I was not criticizing, I just wanted to add my 2 cents and it was worth it to read your reply.

 

[greg334]

Optimism Sells Too

This too can go the other way – optimism sells

In fact for those who know, optimism sells a lot more than fear.

In this business, many believe it is hard work, diligent research that makes or breaks you but it is Luck that matters more often than not.

It is the luck of being in the right place at the right time that allows you to get that good load.

It is the luck of having the right equipment for the job.

It is luck that of being able to BS your way into a good position in the company over others to make people notice you.

It is luck. Or is that Luck?

I have read a lot of optimistic threads in the last few years, many readers will ignore the realistic posts of the failures or the negative approaches to problems and go for things they want to hear – optimism sells over fear.

They don't really want to hear about failures, unless there is a crash and burn story behind it like some Hollywood story.

They don't want to understand what can go wrong or what signs are there that tell them to get out before it is too late.

They want to hear about the new trucks, the apartments on wheels and the paid vacations.

They want to hear the easy way to make the big bucks.

Some who claim to be successful seem to leave out the commas and shift things around to make them look more successful than others. They are the ones who won't tell the whole story and they are the ones who want to sell the optimism to inflate their ego.

Sure sometimes they actually do help others but many times these people tell others when faced with opposition that they are wrong, people need to listen to them.

Some who have been in their comfort zone too long seem to be the first ones to talk about fear as they can only tell you how to deal with it. They are the ones who either don't want to change for the better or refuse to, fearing the risks or seeing nothing of tangible value that can be gained by it. They seem to be the ones who don't take risks at all and consider a well laid out plan with help from people to make it successful a risk when it is no where near one.

Fear of the unknown or fear of change is sometimes a good thing, but it depends on of the person more than the situation. Many don't know how to deal with change or ambiguity left in the wake of the changes while others refuse to let it control them, while others still deal with it as it is part of life and just go on. Sometimes fear of change allows people to adjust themselves when something happens in life and puts them into an optimistic mode to conquered more changes by always moving forward with confidence. Other times just the thought of change invokes too much fear that it stops people in their tracks.

The truth seems to be the negative, the “fear” all has a place in life, as much as the positive. For every negative issue or problem there is an opposite answer or positive solution. Preparing for the worst means looking for those negatives, planning on them, being able to mitigated them if they arrive, and deal with it to move through or around it. It means that you as a person using information, regardless of the source and working through that information towards a plan of prevention that seems to be the best for you.

Most of the fear of change in the last 20 years, especially in business has spurred movements or philosophies that help people understand fear and change to work it out of their lives. In my case Who Moved My Cheese and the Fish! Philosophy that was crammed down our throats at the Pharma company. These two books may help one of you but it didn't help us because we were used to having things changed at a moments notice or taking big risks which most of the time had a successful outcome.

The question seems to be in this business, are you the Sniff and Scurry type of person or are you a Hem and Haw type of person?

By the way, some of this was written for people in IT a while ago, just slightly modified for EO.

 

[Moot]

My pastor once said "When the meek inherit the earth, who will drive the big trucks." He claimed to be quoting the good book. I had my doubts until I saw a T-shirt at a truck stop that read: "When the meek inherit the earth, who will drive the big trucks."

I'm a source kind of guy. If the source is a truck stop T-shirt, restroom stall wall or driver in the parking lot, I gotta go with that. Second source, the internet. Al Gore is gospel.

Ban the van.

 

[wellarmed]

Point made, taken and agreed upon.

I was not criticizing, I just wanted to add my 2 cents and it was worth it to read your reply.

OH MY GOD!! No rebuttal? That reply was full of holes.

 

[atlas1220]

I'm a source kind of guy.

Quite right you are. And you really need to be cautious about who's the bonified source. Unless it's face to face, with credentials in hand ?.....ones supposed knowledge could easily be worthless. There's some that will imply they are the definitive source of just about everything from the manufacturing of grape jelly to the design of the space shuttle.
Having nothing more than an internet connection....does not make one a reliable source.

 

[highway star]

Moot, you left out the most important source of all, the Citizens Band Radio!!! Is there anything more fair and balanced than that?

 

[wellarmed]

Quite right you are. And you really need to be cautious about who's the bonified source. Unless it's face to face, with credentials in hand ?.....ones supposed knowledge could easily be worthless. There's some that will imply they are the definitive source of just about everything from the manufacturing of grape jelly to the design of the space shuttle.
Having nothing more than an internet connection....does not make one a reliable source.

I wish you would have said Apple Butter instead of grape jelly..

 

[atlas1220]

I wish you would have said Apple Butter..

I'm sure he woulda said,

"I've owned and operated a 5,000 acre apple operation in Northwest Washington State"


"plans for our new Apple Butter facility are sitting right here....on my desk"