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What Is Cargo Cult Writing and Why It’s Damaging

September 27, 2021

A cargo cult is a belief system in which a group of people – typically indigenous tribes in contact with a technologically advanced culture – perform imitative rituals expecting a deity to offer them, too, the same technology. So far so good. But what about cargo cult writing?

Allow me first to talk a bit more about cargo cults, because the essence is important in understanding what is cargo cult writing and why it’s damaging to you as an author.

As Wikipedia informs us, although the phenomenon is older, it began to be noticeable in Pacific islands after WW2, when isolated cultures came in contact with American and Japanese expeditionary forces that arrived (by air) in great numbers and with advanced logistical support :

After the war, the soldiers departed. Cargo cults arose, attempting to imitate the behaviors of the soldiers, thinking that this would cause the soldiers and their cargo to return. […] Cult behaviors usually involved mimicking the day-to-day activities and dress styles of US soldiers, such as performing parade ground drills with wooden or salvaged rifles. The islanders carved headphones from wood and wore them while sitting in fabricated control towers. They waved the landing signals while standing on the runways. They lit signal fires and torches to light up runways and lighthouses.

The concept of a cargo cult is often used as a metaphor to describe any activity where one imitates something without understanding it, expecting the same result. In some vague sense, it’s a post-hoc fallacy. “I saw a black cat and then I tripped and fell. It’s the black cat’s fault, so I better avoid black cats”.

As for cargo cult writing, you might have already guessed it: It’s when an author imitates what others do without realizing why or how, expecting similar results. Let’s see the various ways this can happen, and how to avoid it.

cargo cult writing
“Ernest Hemingway used a typewriter, so I need to use one too if I want to be a successful writer”. This simplistic example of cargo cult writing might sound ridiculous (because it is), but other manifestations are more insidious
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Post Hoc Fallacy Examples

January 20, 2019

The post hoc fallacy is a widespread logical fallacy. Post hoc fallacy examples abound everywhere around us, and especially on the internet – where all fallacies are exposed sooner or later!

The full name of this fallacy is post hoc ergo propter hoc, which means “after this, therefore because of this” in Latin. In simple terms, a post hoc fallacy is one where when two events happen soon after each other, the occurrence of the second is attributed to the first.

post hoc fallacy examples
“Me? The cause of bad luck?”

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