awkwardly worded to be sure after rereading if not just an incomplete thought. i would hope that we could improve our abilities to be less susceptible to the influence after studying. some of us seem to be impervious since we don't spend any time on the socials where these influencers live. others seemingly can't tell there's an influence at all. while others yet seem like they couldn't figure out how to feed themself if an influencer didn't first suggest it

Why would it be good to be less susceptible to influence? If I have a misunderstanding about something, or fail to appreciate its merits, would I not want to be “influenced”? Is it only bad when you feel cool saying that you, homo rationalis, disregarded it?

Because if it's an influencer, it's usually a crap product someone has paid as a marketing expense for someone to promote to generate sells. There's a huge difference between a sales pitch and an influencer peddling wares. If you can't understand this basic principle, then there's no room left to have a sane conversation

the basic principle hinges on your "usually" though. Influencers need to pay the bills, so if the product is crap, they might still endorse it, but they might also not. So it depends on how cynical you personally are. Because if it's a crap product, then the influencer's influence will go down after people buy the product and realize it's crap. then they won't trust that influencer anymore. so it's in the influencer's best interests to not peddle crap. sometimes they do, sometimes they don't.

For every influencer that misses on a product and loses out, there's a line around the corner of people willing to be the next. They are like cockroaches.

For the record, I'm extremely cynical if that wasn't apparent. I've never bought anything from late night infomercials, and I see influencers below them on the scale of respectability. There are oh so many tales of the influencer that just wanted the checks even though they knew nothing of the product being peddled. Are they all that way? Maybe not, but it's not anything that I will ever be convinced is a net positive for society.