Sam

Imagine your Twitter feed only showed people who won the lottery. Every day you only see posts from people who won big. Within a few weeks you’d start to think winning the lottery is normal. And you'd probably start playing the lottery yourself 🤑 At first you would lose of course. But then one day you’d get lucky and win your first $100. And since you’re seeing daily posts of lottery winners, you’d think « this is proof the lottery is working, I just need to learn how to play it better » Then you’d meet a community of full-time lottery player. Every time you have a small win, they support and boost you. "You're on the right path bro, you're gonna make it!" So you quit your job and focus 100% on the lottery. You still see posts about other people who win big everyday. And you’re sure it’s only a matter of time until it’s your turn. But the months go by, and you’re still only winning $100 here and there. But one time you win $10,000! (after spending $20,000) Its crazy! And you think you finally figured it out! But the next day you’re back to losing. Now the years go by, and you still see the daily stream of winners celebrating on your feed. But you’re still nowhere as successful as them. And you start wondering. Why am I still not winning? Is there something wrong with me? Am I stupid? But there is nothing wrong with you. You just made the mistake of believing the algorithm. The algorithm which gives 100x more visibility to the winners, and makes it seem like everybody but you is winning. But the truth is only 0.1% of people win anything significant at the lottery. Most people fail, but you will never see or hear about them, because of the algorithm. There’s nothing wrong with you, you’re just a normal person who didn’t win the lottery. Like basically 99% of people on earth. Your perception that you should’ve won was just a fantasy driven by social media algorithms. This realization makes you feel sad for a while, but after a few days you feel liberated. You stop thinking there’s anything wrong with you for losing at the lottery, and you start coming back to your real life, and look for a job again. You’re just a normal person and that feels good. No need to win big, just build a good life. Once you start realizing this, you try to warn the other lottery players. You tell them about this reality, but they don’t listen. They’re too addicted themselves. So they dismiss you as a loser who gave up too quickly, and cast you away. But in reality you just woke up to the fantasy and tried to help them. Indie hacking is a cult.