Law of Diminishing Returns

by Rattigan350 10 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  Rattigan350

  The Law of Diminishing Returns states: The law of diminishing returns is an economic principle stating that as investment in a particular area increases, the rate of profit from that investment, after a certain point, cannot continue to increase if other variables remain at a constant. As investment continues past that point, the return diminishes progressively.

  From 1900 through the 1980s, the more Witnesses that got baptized and pioneered, the more Bible studies that could be had and the more additional Witnesses that could join and then congregations would get bigger and they would divide and form in other areas. But in the 1990s the law of Diminishing Returns kicked in, particularly in the bigger cities. I've heard of service groups being given a floor of an apartment building to work. They get a few doors and then done.

  The Service Dept suggested that territories be checked out and worked in 3 months and turned in and put back in the rotation. But some congregations had territories that were worked every month or more often. The people got tired of them coming by. The growth and activity of the 1990s and 2000s couldn't be sustained. Field service just became something to do to get time and nothing real resulted.

  Same with congregations that had a dozen or more elders. They were too elder heavy. Too many middle managers.

  All they know is this push for marketing and results but don't know how to manage those results anymore particularly when the workers don't have anything to do.

  Is there a cooling down lately because of this?
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  road to nowhere

  Trying to sell a tarnished product. 3rd grade writing ( or kindergarden videos) with an incoherent message that changes with the wind.
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  punkofnice

  Entropy always wins in the end with everything I can think of.
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  dropoffyourkeylee

  I think that the number of former JWs, some being grown children of JWs, is an important metric. In the US, its a lot.
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  hoser

  During the years you mentioned life was fairly stable in western lands and the internet became widely accessible. People didn’t need religion and the internet exposed the bullshit
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  ozziepost

  Rattigan350:

  Owyergoin?

  Since my tertiary background was economics, I was drawn to your idea, and think you have a (valid) point.

  For those who open the door to the Dub’s call, there is nothing new in the message.

  Paradise has been offered for a century but we live in a post-christian world now.

  The “you can live in paradise” message ain’t gonna cut it any more.

  Without the necessary increases to compensate for the revolving door of the R&F the number of the committed is likely to “wither and die”.

  Cheers,

  Ozzie 🍷
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  Foolednomore

  The Jw message is such a joke that any thinking person would laugh them off their door. Their stuff does not work in the real world.
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  TonusOH

  I think the internet has had a large impact, which might be why things began to change in the 1990s. It has gotten progressively harder to keep membership away from dissenting views and damaging information, as the internet went from a large and sloppy repository of information to a much more streamlined and accessible medium for learning anything you want. It is almost impossible to keep the sheep ignorant of your past when there are websites where you can read actual scans of original books and magazines. The dirty laundry is everywhere now.

  And for prospective witnesses, it's a quick web search and suddenly you know a lot more about the JWs than they would like you to know. How many interested people became disinterested after a couple of hours of research?
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  Foolednomore

  TonusOh- Very True. The internet as caused Watchtower such a headache that they can not escape the outcomes. At one's own fingertips you can find so much true dirt on Watchtower. They can't mop it up fast enough. It's not like the early days when they could hide things. Now it's all over. Good laughes.
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  peacefulpete

  How many interested people became disinterested after a couple of hours of research?

  People like you might do a couple hours research, but most people can't be bothered to spend 10 minutes googling and then assess the credibility of what they are reading. IMO, most people still assess the 'truthiness' of something by how they feel. Religion will be around forever.