In one sense, adopting the form of something and then hoping it will lead to the substance of the thing following on, makes sense. It is a form of conjecture. So, as you say, the problem with cargo cultism is not form-emulation but failure to do the work of making the vision come true; expecting it to happen all on its own by magic.

People might approach any school of knowledge, including TCS, with a cargo cult mentality, thinking that all they have to do is make one imaginative and intellectual leap (the paradigm shift) and their family futures will be bright and easy. But the process of building the future is likely to be more complex and difficult the more deep the paradigm shift: in other words, the most promising institutions are also the most demanding! Compared with forcing change revolutionary-style, or waiting for magic to occur, painstaking piecemeal knowledge-growth is very hard work indeed.

So, what if we have an exciting new vision, and are convinced that it is good, but lack the knowledge of how to bring it about? If neither institution-smashing nor reliance on the supernatural are viable, where do we begin?

The best approach would seem to be to hold the vision in mind, maintaining consciousness of its fantasy status, and then begin the process of conjecture and refutation of the many piecemeal ideas that might move us towards than vision. Individual moral choices must be made on the way, with reference to our vision, which should be constantly checked and adjusted as new information throws new light on its right or wrongness. A big conjecture can only be tested by a process of lots of other smaller ones plus their interactions with the big one. Growth is complicated.

Any idiot can be a backseat Prime Minister. But if a person is not prepared to undertake the work required actually to get into government, growing ideas is all the political change he can achieve. So he had better have some faith in the institutions he is working from within: otherwise, according to his own thinking, all that work will have been pointless. Which seems an immoral waste of time.

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