In this episode of Mentally Unscripted, Paul and Scott welcome Robert and Wiz back to the show. This time they cast their critical, and sometimes cynical, eye on the shady world of social media gurus. And of course, they have a little fun doing it.
Guest Links
Resources
Mentally Unscripted Ep25 - A Conversation with Wisdom and Strategy
Mentally Unscripted Ep28 - Killing Procrastination with Robert
Top Takeaways
There is no shortage of people on social media touting themselves as gurus and wanting to take your money. If you want to learn about something, it makes sense to learn it from someone who’s done it before. But the Internet makes it easy for the gurus to make claims and harder for the rest of us to confirm the gurus are being truthful.
Gurus try to sell you on an image. Either something you don’t have physically or psychologically.
A lack of strong leadership and a sense of entitlement is leading to the growth of gurus with outrageous claims and the gullible people who keep the gurus in business.
Timestamps
[1:58] Where we found our first guru.
[5:52] Paul’s thoughts on Naval.
[8:13] Not all the social media gurus are shams.
[10:42] It comes down to the guru’s motivation. Do they want to help you or separate you from your money?
[11:53] There are other social media accounts dedicated to taking down the gurus. “Guru takedown porn,” according to Paul.
[13:15] The guru Ponzi scheme and selling the dream. There will never be a lack of predatory gurus and gullible people to keep them in business.
[19:30] Is it the problem they focus on or their method that makes the fake guru?
[20:46] Social media guru marketing.
[22:32] The consistency principle works in social media guru marketing too.
[24:03] More about exposing fake gurus.
[26:56] We justify our purchase because we spent money on them so we’ll convince ourselves we bought a worthwhile product. False pattern recognition can play a role in this.
[30:13] How to identify a false guru.
[32:07] How the fake gurus use the hero’s journey.
[33:42] What else you should look for?
[41:28] You get what you pay for.
[42:29] Good advice can morph into a parody of itself.
[46:07] The anti-guru.
[50:14] Why there are so many social media gurus.
[53:15] Finally, here’s your Bruce Lee fix.
Engage with Scott and Paul on the Twitter thought control machine.
We’re also on Odysee (full episodes and clips).
Follow Scott at Strength and Reason.
Ep34 – Fake Gurus, Bruce Lee Quotes, and the End of Society as We Know It