Science worshippers vs the scientific method

Not long ago I saw a meme showing the difference between science worshippers and people who do actual science. Example: Anyone you see on social media mindlessly typing things like “trust the science!” or “follow the science!” or “trust the experts!” etc just because a goofy looking doctor who looks like a garden gnome on TV who's only brand is fear said something, but without having done any, you know, science themselves on the matter… or even bother to question anything. The meme has two columns: 1. Science Worshipper Method Which consisted merely of: Formulate or plagiarize a hypothesis — construct a model based on preconceived ideas — find data that agrees with the model — discard data that does not align with model — shout “TRUST THE EXPERTS!” 2. The Scientific Method With an illustration of the Scientific Method and how real science works. Two totally different things. And, unfortunately, going by what I’ve seen at least… it’s clear most people — even people I would have thought would know better — are firmly in the Science Worshipper Method camp. I got to thinking about this when writing the August “Email Players” issue. This is one of many things it teaches, but in a purely marketing context. For example: The idea of how so many copywriters and marketers don’t look to have their ideas, copy, or marketing challenged at all. They prefer to go hang out amongst their peers and look for Facebook likes and high fives while telling people how great their subject line or headline or email copy, etc is. But they don’t really want to see their ideas or work challenged. They don’t really want to do an old school CRIT. I’ve heard “Email Players” subscriber Gary Bencivenga talk about how, when he was the copy chief at an agency he was a partner in, they would do these brutal critiques (I suspect this still goes on in the A-list copywriter world) where the copy was handed to anyone and everyone who would read it. Whether it was other copywriters or the secretary or the mailman. Didn’t matter. These copywriters weren’t looking to have their work validated. They were looking to have it savagely torn apart. No ego involved. No running to their own list or Facebook friends saying “look how great my copy is!” looking for some scooby snacks of likes and “oh wow!” comments from people who have zero stake in the game. It was the exact opposite back in the day. It was brutal. And messy. And sometimes writers would have to throw away everything they just slaved over for weeks because someone they handed their copy to found a glaring flaw in the entire argument and they knew they had to go back to the drawing board. The internet has absolutely made people sloppy. And to fair, most people can afford to be sloppy now. It doesn’t really cost all that much (and often nothing at all) to run ads, get leads, and make sales. Back in the direct mail days of Third & Fourth Generation Marketing Warfare (as I talked about multiple times in various “Email Players” issues this year) you couldn’t slack off. Even a small test in a newspaper or to a list could cost $10k in printing and mailing fees. In the era of Fifth, and now Sixth-Generation Marketing Warfare, you can get away with a lot of sloppiness you couldn’t then. But that attitude they had back then is something missing today. You won’t find it on Facebook. You won’t find it in your fanbase. And you won’t find it from a coach if they are the type more worried about making sure you come back and pay their fees for a longer period of time by stroking your ego than helping solve the problems they were hired to help solve. Anyway, I talk a lot more about this in the August “Email Players” issue. Not just for creating better sales copy, but also for creating better customers, better marketplace positioning, better emails, better business relationships, better contracts, and even better personal relationships. There is no more valuable skill I can teach than this. And as far as the specifics go, I can count on two hands the number of marketers and/or copywriters who use the information inside, and none of them really teaches any of it, except in bits and pieces here and there. This is the One issue to rule them all, in my opinion. A truly fitting issue for the publication’s 10-year anniversary. And only those subscribed before the looming deadline will possess it. Here is the link: Ben Settle Ben Settle, Owner Settle, LLC Copyright © 2021 Settle, LLC. All Rights Reserved. No part of this email may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means without written permission from Settle, LLC. PO Box 1056 Gold Beach Oregon 97444 USA To unsubscribe or change subscriber options, visit: