Beliefs are powerful. They can streamline a subcultural self-fulfilling prophecy by fueling ideologies. Ideologies harness social power to self-fulfill.
Imagine now that you, your family, your friends, and a lot more folks you never met, are traveling together on a train to Somewhere.
Everyone believes to know where Somewhere is, but the coordinates to Somewhere are only known to the Crew operating the train you're on.
The Crew BELIEVES that the train must travel at certain speeds and directions in order to reach a very specific Somewhere known and understood only by the Crew.
When the train is too heavy, the Crew moves folks forward and releases some of its last carts. When the train is too slow, the Crew releases some of the folks...in order to ACCELERATE towards the Somewhere envisioned by the Crew.
The vision of Somewhere is sustained via a subcultural ideology fueled by an extreme and narrow belief.
Narrow means that some folks would not make it to the front of the train while other folks are believed to be responsible for slowing down the train. This creates friction, conflict, and ultimately a decisive battle between the Crew and most of the Folks on the train.
"Our Belief, Our Somewhere, Our Train" begins to emerge at the forefront of the Folks' minds.
In theory, the Folks should now assume control of the Train from the Crew. However, by now also, the Crew has automated most of the controls and insulated everyone and every cart from the train's engine and controls.
The Folks might revolt, but by lacking their own Beliefs strong enough to fuel an ideology that harnesses social power, and having no idea how to access any mechanisms or structures to help in their ideals, they fold.
Consumed by a tacit anger and defeat, the Folks now have a single option left - to buckle up and hope to survive the Impact, the endgame of the Train as it travels to Somewhere.
In other words, the Folks' only remaining option is to....believe.
Beliefs are powerful. They can streamline a subcultural self-fulfilling prophecy by fueling ideologies. Ideologies harness social power to self-fulfill.
"We cannot solve our problems with the SAME thinking we used when we created them." - A. Einstein
"The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." - attributed to A. Einstein (unconfirmed)
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