The Comfort of Reality

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"I don't see as a story having to be entirely self-contained," he says. "There is this overarching story of the person, and how does that product, that place, or whatever fall in line with that?" He doesn't like college kids at his favorite bar because they play annoying music. The best burritos I've ever had have been from Tocqueria And Androgynous on San Francisco's West Side.

Today Josh speaks with Sam McNerney about the growing conspiratorial culture in the West, its further detachment from reality, free will, and the implications of us potentially living in a simulation.

Some of the other things we dive into are:

How marketers are like alchemists.
QAnon as a marketing campaign.
The root of cults and religion.
Mental illness and mental viruses.
The differences between marketing, storytelling, and being persuasive.
What is our relationship to brands?
The philosophical differences between chains and small businesses.
Existentialism, secularism, and simulated realities.
Mental health, religion, submission, and control.
The Matrix, free will, and purpose.
Does it matter if we live in a simulation?
And so much more.

Sam McNerney is an applied behavioral scientist, market researcher, and brand strategist based in Brooklyn, New York. He has worked with brands such as Walmart, Procter & Gamble, and CitiBank.

As a writer, he has interviewed business and academic leaders including Arianna Huffington, Andrew Yang, Jonathan Haidt, and Charles Murray – and his essays have been featured in publications like The Washington Post, Psychology Today, and Scientific American.

Now as an independent consumer insights specialist, he specializes in using surveys to help businesses answer questions about their customers that unlock the greatest value.

Connect with Sam: