The Illness of Illusion?

[Note: Definition of Deception; A lie, fraud, trick, ruse, sham, con, cheat, pretence]

Matt 24:4
And Jesus answered and said unto them, take heed that no man deceive you.

I Cor 3:18
Let no man deceive himself.

Falling into deception is a dangerous place to be. It could almost be compared to an illness for all the damage it can cause. The message here is that we can easily be deceived by others, but more importantly, we can quietly deceive ourselves. With the magnitude of deception of what is happening in our country today, our guards should be tuned to a supermax alert on this subject.

One of the best remedies for deception is due diligence from a trusted source. (See Post dated 2-22-10: Due Diligence) Any due diligence should be rooted in truth. It’s one thing to do the required homework, but it’s another to slave over false material and exaggerated assumptions that can result in the wrong solution.

Point is, if you can’t trust the source (deception), you can’t trust the information. Carefully consider all sources, and become highly sensitive to deception. This area is critical in decision making.

Free to Be...You and Me?

In this country, we take things like air, water, food and decision making for granted. Just think, they are all a part of the resources we enjoy as a product of living in a free society here in America.

You may say that the air, water and food is one thing…but, decision making?

Thankfully, when we actually decide to do something (that is not illegal), we have the freedom to act on it. We can start a business, choose a career, adopt a religion, gamble, trade, chew, spit and send an email…because we made the conscious decision to do something. Nobody is dictating what we have to do or not do.

If I told you that you could no longer have the air, water and food, how hard would you rebel? What steps would you take? How volatile might you become? Why?...because it is essential to your life.

If I told you that any decisions you made could no longer be acted on, at any price and under no circumstance because you no longer had that freedom…it has been stripped. What would be your response? Would you now recognize that the freedom and ability to make independent decisions is ranking up there with those other resources that were taken for granted?

The point in all this is our freedom. A free society. A fight to keep it free. Knowing when freedom is in jeopardy. Realizing that individual decision making is a vital issue in a free society (right up there with air-water-food).

More…

Due Diligence and Decisions

Due Diligence: “Due diligence is a term used for a number of concepts involving either the performance of an investigation of a situation, business, person or the performance of an act with a certain standard of care. It can be a legal obligation, but the term will more commonly apply to voluntary personal investigations.”

An example is, due diligence becomes a process through which a potential acquirer evaluates a target company for acquisition.

In finance, due diligence is the process of research and analysis that takes place in advance of an acquisition, investment, business partnership or bank transaction in order to determine the value of the subject of the due diligence or whether there are any "'skeletons in the closet'". In other words, it is the process to discover an “opportunity.”

Due diligence is also frequently conducted into the integrity of sales agents, consultants and distributors, or companies for merger, acquisition or joint venture, to ensure that potential business partners do not carry any liability of bribery and corruption.

In lay terms, due diligence is the responsibility one has to investigate and identify issues, and due care is doing something about the findings from due diligence.

Due diligence in civil litigation (also known as due care) is the effort made by an ordinarily prudent or reasonable party to avoid harm to another party. Failure to make this effort may be considered negligence. This is conceptually distinct from investigative due diligence, involving a general obligation to meet a standard of behavior. Quite often a written contract or agreement will specify that a party is required to provide due diligence.

In criminal law, due diligence is the only available defense to a crime that is one of strict liability. Once the criminal offense is proven, the defendant must prove on the balance of probabilities that they did everything possible to prevent the act from happening. It is not enough that they took the normal standard of care in their industry - they must show that they took every reasonable precaution.

The reason for these definitions and applications is to again stress the propriety and importance of taking all the necessary time, effort and research that will fulfill your own due diligence at this critical stage of thinking and decision making. More on this subject...

Herd Thinking (Mentality)

Herd mentality describes how people are influenced by their peers to adopt certain behaviors, follow trends, and/or purchase items. Examples of the herd mentality include the early adopters of high technology products such as smart phones and iGadgets, as well as stock market trends, fashions in apparel, cars, home décor, etc. Social psychologists study the related topics of group intelligence, crowd wisdom, and decentralized decision making (e.g.voting).

Marketing and behavioral finance researchers study the effects of the herd mentality on consumer behavior and stock market investments, including topics such as early adopters, prediction markets, and Delphi methods for predicting buying patterns. Corporate marketing forecasters attempt to produce accurate pictures of future consumer behavior using the above-referenced methods of understanding.

Definition

The term herd mentality is derived from the word “herd,” meaning a group of (e.g. animals), and “mentality,” implying a certain frame of mind. However the most succinct definition would be: how large numbers of people act in the same ways at the same times.

Herd behavior is distinguished from herd mentality because it applies to all animals, whereas the term “mentality” implies a uniquely human phenomenon. Herd mentality implies a fear-based reaction to peer pressure which makes individuals act in order to avoid feeling “left behind or left outside” the group.

This is a Test...

Everyone you know has to make daily decisions at most every level…that’s a given.

As mentioned in an earlier post, the amazing fact is not simply the exercise of making the decision, but How the decision gets made. Here’s the test: Next time you give out of subjects to discuss with friends and/or family, at a cocktail party, etc. try asking…“I’m personally about to make a real important decision, so I can use all the help I can get…Question; When you have a big deal decision to make…How do you make it?”

You will be astounded that most people have no clue, no process and certainly no tangible and/or objective model or formula as a track to follow. In other words, they make a decision on which brand of toilet paper they may choose at the store with the same criteria they would use to buy a house.

The reason this subject is so current and so vital should now be obvious. Look at the state of our condition, economy and our world. The results are all a product of individual and collective decisions.

Back to Decisions

It’s not a case of if…but how you make decisions. Consider some of the most often used subjective methods that influence decision-making:

Instincts and Gut Feelings (Intuition, abstract and baseless driven)
Herd Thinking (Crowd mentality, blind faith and non-objective)
Chance (Cards, Dice, Coins, Eight-Ball and many other device oriented answers)
Astrology (Charts, Zodiac Signs, Readings, Interpretations, Visions)
Various Traditions (Calendars, Ceremonies, Celebrations, Holidays)
Social and Fraternal Influences (Codes, Signs, Symbols, Handshakes and other rituals)
Cultural Ideologies (Sacrifices, Rituals, Customs)
Technological Influences (Mobile Connections, Social Networks, Chat rooms, Blogs)
Gadgets and Apparatuses (Computers, Smart Phones, Programming, Media)
Clairvoyance-Psychics-Readings (Visions, Readings, Signs)
Family, Friends and Business Influences (Bias, Prejudice, Tradition, Influence, Rituals, Habits)
Other Beliefs and Cults (Evolution, Scientology, Church of the XXX, Zen Buddhism)
Church Denominations (Countless)

Looking closely at any one of the approaches will clearly show our alternative attempts to avoid a direct, objective, accountable, tangible, visual, factual (among others) decision making application. In many cases, shooting from the hip or gaining an effortless decision is much more convenient and expedient in our “time chocked” society. Often, we are encouraged to be “influenced or pressured” into a decision. Why?

It has been well stated that your decisions can make or break your life. Question: With so much emphasis and importance placed on decisions and decision making, why is it such an unpopular subject? Why is the methodology of decision making generally avoided even with so much at stake? How is it affecting your own life? What kind of credible information will make logical and practical sense?

Gone Fishing

I placed the first few posts directly from my book Zillion Dollar Thinking to see what would surface…
In fishing terms here’s what I’ve gathered:

-The body of water I’m fishing in is an ocean and not a stream or lake
-I must be in the wrong area of the water…and the fish have moved
-I’m using the wrong bait…on the wrong fish
-I’m not emulating the professional fishermen…there are a zillion baits, apps and tutorials out there to make the process more successful
-Fishing is an art and a science
-I’m fishing out of season
-Instead of blog-fishing maybe I should be twitter-fishing (or both…or other?)

What’s interesting is that, I should know better…and, I didn’t jump all over this format when I saw all the signs that blogging had a future several years ago (RE: Blog: Understanding the Information Reformation That's Changing Your World)

But, that is all rear view mirror stuff.

Fifty Years Ago.

The Magic Eight Ball could provide any inquiry with yes, no and maybe answers. The Eight-Ball was a toy. At the American International Toy Fair, a new interactive toy to be marketed to children was introduced that employed artificial intelligence, fuzzy logic and psychographic profiling. This device attempts to model one’s thinking and decision making paths. After a few trial questions, this "toy" can be alarmingly accurate in mimicking thought patterns. These kinds of instruments could potentially become convincing enough that a young impressionable mind might allow the device to do some important thinking or make decisions for them. This technological device is scary because of its accuracy and potential to influence and it only costs $10.

The UCD (Universal Communication Device) is equally as concerning. It has full audio, full video, instant access, worldwide reach, 24/7 online and total portability among many other features that are increasing daily. The temptation is also to let this UCD do our thinking for us.

Large corporations, the various branches of government, many trade and professional organizations, institutional organizations and others want and encourage us to practice "herd mentality." They generally do not promote independent thinking or important decision-making that delivers positive or calculated results. Do you ever wonder why?

There has never been a more important time on this world stage for us to think through and consider the consequences of our thinking patterns that affect decision making. Please consider this...Your individual thoughts, big or small, and your resulting decisions today, will help shape the world we will all live in tomorrow. Your decisions will not only affect you, but most often, those around you.

Your Decision Making World Today.

In our free society, we must constantly make decisions. In fact, most of us consider it a privilege. Conversely, in a dictatorship there is little opportunity to make decisions, much less act on them. They are made for you (sound familiar?). Thankfully in America, decisions big and small, are still a part of our life for now.

The issue is not if we do or do not make them, but how we make them. That becomes the dividing line to an orderly or a disorderly deciding process...yielding either confidence...or confusion and frustration. The answer to this continuing problem may well be here for you in these small messages called Zillion Dollar Thinking (based on the published book of the same title).

There is also a MODEL presented in the book that is a simple four step decision-making process for your personal, positive development and professional success. This will be an opportunity for you to stop and think about a process that will definitely have a positive affect on your ability to “stop and think”. Because of its simplicity you will find that it can easily become an important asset in your decision-making ability. Let's see what develops...