We understand from the media that the world is full of the unscrupulous – the weasel of a financial advisor who cleaned out Aunt Ethel or the surgeon that took one cut too many on Uncle Phil. These days we learn on our social media that many of these individuals may be Martians infiltrating honored professions. How else do you explain the rapid uptick in these reports? Who do you trust?
Your friendly Youtube or Tik-Tok influencer is perhaps the most admired person in many people’s lives these days. How else would you learn about new trends in the recovery of suppressed memories of previous lives, dietary supplements, or cures for persistent raspy voices?
What did we do before? It seems like more than twenty or so years ago that we had to search for information, read and carefully evaluate. Now one influencer can hit the bullseye in a short video presentation targeting our anxieties.
I wonder what’s next? Brainwashing?
We neeed Good Influencers maybe. Scrupulous ones.
I thought medical school was rather like joining a cult: secret language and hazing and all. Sigh.
Most elite professions are secret societies with dialects, rituals, costumes, secret handshakes, and methods of excluding or expelling – anthropology was too. We were supposed to be serious influencers. But we are surpassed by people who sell Ivermectin, tout flash mobs for game consoles, offer cinnamon challenges, and advertise Brazilian butt lifts.
For this we went to soooo many years of education?