When people don’t really understand what they’re doing, they are cargo cultists, unlikely to get the results that they seek. For example, cargo-cult entrepreneurs might constantly go to startup networking events, but never actually build a viable company. Cargo-cult science appears to be a scientific endeavor, but it does not rigorously follow the scientific method (see Chapter 4). Cargo-cult investors might try to copy what they see others investing in, but they do not understand the reasons behind the investments, and so their investments don’t perform as well in the long run.
