Entrepreneur.com: Do You Believe in Magic? Don't.

by Joe Mobley

Posted: 9 years ago 13 replies

OFF TOPIC

It's a remarkably common phenomenon called magical thinking, and it's remarkably destructive. It's responsible for more failed businesses, blown careers, and financial debt than you can imagine. And it's practically an epidemic among the entrepreneur crowd.

Image credit: jenny.nash712 | Flickr

Do You Believe in Magic? Don't.

Joe Mobley

BigFrank Banned 9 years ago

Are you saying that some people actually believe in magic? In 2015? I ain't buyin' it.

Cheers. - Frank
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- AprilCT 9 years ago
  
  I don't believe in magic. I do believe that reality bites and success comes from a multiple of verifiable factors such as plain old hard work, ability, and doing most of the right things at the right time and place.
  
  Sometimes success can look magical when someone is born into it and had it handed down to him without starting from scratch. Receiving a successful business via family is still no iron clad guarantee you will be any good at it. I could cite one of the prime examples (not thinking anyone on this forum,) but out of compassion (yeah, once in a while I tell a little white lie,) I won't name the goofball online.
  
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- HeySal 9 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by BigFrank
  
  Are you saying that some people actually believe in magic? In 2015? I ain't buyin' it.
  
  Cheers. - Frank
  
  I would think this, in the particular context, refers to those people who think that "the Secret" is all one needs to manifest success.
  
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  Sal
  When the Roads and Paths end, learn to guide yourself through the wilderness
  Beyond the Path
  
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  tagiscom 9 years ago
  
  Good advise, but he is a bit off in regards to saying all entrepreneurs who have some faith, are the same as CEO's!
  
  A lot of people said that Edison was nuts for failing so many times, and he was dragged in front of a court to prove it!
  
  But he just said that he was closer to a success, and kept trying!
  
  How long would most scientists persist with something, before they would consider it a failure, or impossible?
  
  Most l suspect!
  
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  Archimedes Forum, Sign up l won't bite
  
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  MissTerraK 9 years ago
  
  I believe in magic!
  
  This kind anyway.
  
  Do You Believe In Magic - The Lovin' Spoonful -...
  
  Terra
  
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  Claude Whitacre 9 years ago
  
  Michael Shermer and Sam Harris (Two great rational thinkers) call it "Magical thinking" as well.
  
  When we are children, everything is equally plausible. Sometimes, we don't learn any different. And you can see the problems with that kind of thinking, in the results you get.
  But we are all "Magical thinkers" in some ways. I still believe that "Chi" was a real thing, well into middle age.
  
  I imagine there are lots of magical thinkers in prison, or living in their Mom's basement...at 40, commenting on Youtube videos.
  
  In fact, Youtube video comments are some of the best examples of magical thinking, and consequence free aggression.
  
  Penn Gillette was interviewed, and he said that, at the end of every magic show (Penn & Teller), at least one person tells them something along the lines of "Well, you fooled the rest of these people into believing that you use tricks. But I know you use real magic".
  
  He said that he will even explain, in detail, how the trick was done. But..Nope, Magical Thinkers are committed to their point of view. Every mentalist and magician gets the same thing. Mentalists especially. And allowing people to believe you have real magical powers, is really looked down on by other performers.
  
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  Karen Blundell 9 years ago
  
  awww - well some things could be considered "magical"
  like you think of something that you want to do, and the circumstances "magically" come about to enable to do what you want to do...
  
  maybe that's serendipity and not magic...however - here's some magic for ya
  
  Coldplay - Magic (Official video) - YouTube
  
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  seasoned 9 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by HeySal
  
  I would think this, in the particular context, refers to those people who think that "the Secret" is all one needs to manifest success.
  
  I THOUGHT that was what was meant, but I just read that. They speak of unreasonable expectations, like a 4hour work week, and bootstrapping a business with no backup plan, or knowledge of where to get the money. OK, LEGITIMATE! I AGREE!
  
  THEN, he says this is what gave us: Enron, WorldCom, Bernie Madoff !!!!!!! That is BULL!!!!!!
  
  ENRON? They could EASILY have been a GREAT company! They WERE, after all, built using what USED to be mostly great companies. They built power plants nobody needed in INDIA, and INTENTIONALLY bid against themselves to make lots of money! In "The smartest guys in the room", they spoke of a person betting that the price of electricity would climb, as he would SIMULTANEOUSLY tell his plants to SHUT DOWN! So enron wasn't there to build the company, or even provide power. It was there to make people rich. They ALSO stole money from pension plans that were controlled by companies they bought because those companies were so strong.
  
  WorldCom? Apparently, they did things somewhat like Enron.
  
  Bernie MADOFF!?!?!?!?!? ARE YOU KIDDING ME!?!?!?!?!? He had several BIG guys that had TWO key criteria! ONE, they were RICH, so they could PAY THROUGH THE NOSE! TWO, they were RICH, so they kept REINVESTING! You see, a lot of people don't realize it, but conmen LOVE those criteria! A ponzi scheme could literally run FOREVER with such people! But he got too famous, and people started pulling in smaller friends and they started asking questions, etc.... The scheme collapsed. But the ORIGINAL goal was to LOSE money! The lost money is paid through new investments, etc... and pays for the high lifestyle of the conmen.
  
  All that is is a FLUFF PIECE for Steve Tobak and his company.
  
  Steve
  
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whateverpedia 9 years ago

This should be posted in the WSO section.
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Why do garden gnomes smell so bad?
So that blind people can hate them as well.
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- Joe Mobley 9 years ago
  
  Originally Posted by whateverpedia
  
  This should be posted in the WSO section.
  
  Now there's a thought.
  
  Double Your Money Back Guarantee!
  
  If you can get some magic to work, I'll give twice your money back.
  
  Joe Mobley
  
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  positivenegative 9 years ago
  
  A bit of magic never hurt anyone. And for those who think bigger is better (sorry Claude) then it certainly is in the vacuum cleaner world.
  
  nb . . . best viewed at right angle to avoid confusing with Claude's leg.
  
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salegurus 9 years ago

This would give some of those clowns in the main forum nightmares... I would love to see the responses from the MF crowd if this was posted up there....

"I’ve observed hundreds, maybe thousands, of people over the years and hear from new ones practically every day who, like those unfortunate chefs, insist on living in a utopian, make-believe world where:

They can will themselves to be happy and successful.

They can underfund, undercapitalize, and unwisely try to bootstrap their startup without running out of cash.

Entrepreneurship is a mindset that has nothing to do with actually starting, owning, and running a real business with products, customers and employees.

There’s such a thing as a four-hour workweek.

They can have a successful career without ever getting dressed and leaving the house.

Blogging, social media marketing, and generating free content like millions of other paupers is actually a career that will take them somewhere besides bankruptcy court.

If it’s on the Internet and it sounds good then it must be true.

Causal relationships and deductive reasoning don’t apply to them.

Buying things they can’t afford and living beyond their means makes complete sense.

They can predictably and consistently beat the stock market when professional investors can’t"
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YouTubePR 9 years ago

I do not believe in magic. Because now people have become scientifically educated !!!
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