It happened to by older brother a few years back.
The cult of vegan got ahold of him… and suddenly he was an instant expert on all things food and health. :/ I could go on for days about the way they mislead people with outright lies and backwards logic…
But, the most annoying one has to be “The China Study”.
If you’re ever had a run-in with the cult of vegan you’ve no doubt heard this one. It’s a book by Dr. T. Colin Campbell that touts itself as “The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted..”
What it actually is…
Is a magnum opus on how to use data to mislead and straight-up lie. Here’s one epic example. In his book, Campbell claims:
“Plasma cholesterol in the 90-170 milligrams per deciliter range is positively associated with most cancer mortality rates. Plasma cholesterol is positively associated with animal protein intake and inversely associated with plant protein intake.”
Basically… eat meat, get cancer. Eat plants, no cancer.
But, he uses a “two-step” correlation. Cholesterol leads to cancer and eating meat increases cholesterol… therefore, eating mead leads to cancer. Sounds reasonable enough.
Problem is…
When you actually look at the direct correlation between eating meat and cancer, from his OWN study, most of the correlations are negative — and NONE of them are statistically significant.
So, in reality, there’s ZERO link between eating meat and cancer… identified in the China Study. If anything, the data points the other way.
Now, honestly, I couldn’t care less if someone’s a vegan or not.
To each their own.
But, it does highlight a quirk in how our brain’s work. In fact, I figured out a (less shady) way of using this quirk… to take my competitors testimonials and use them to sell my own services.
Sounds impossible…
But, when you understand how and why people buy… that is, we buy on emotion but justify using logic… this kind of thing becomes obvious. Just like a vegan who will twist data to fit their worldview…
Send the right signals…
And, clients will twist themselves into a pretzel to justify hiring you. Anyway, this sneaky little trick is one way I’ve learned to do that. And, you don’t even have to have your own testimonials or client reviews.
You can cherry-pick them from your competitors…
And “veganize” them and turn your competition into your own little sales team. 😀
Anyway, that’s one of the many secrets you’ll learn inside my “Premium Pricing For Freelancers” course on Skillshare. If you’re already a member, you can start watching the course here: https://skl.sh/3rQ3EhP
If you’re not yet a member, you can watch a video on how to get free access here: https://johnmorrisonline.com/skillshare
Later,
John
Idea Engine LLC
P.O. Box 245
Winona, MO 65588
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