Freemasonry and The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe: Asymmetric information and Cognitive Dissonance

When one enters freemasonry it is like joining a different world. In a sense it is a bit like walking through the wardrobe and finding Narnia on the other side. Freemasonry is quite unlike most organizations because, although it widely exists it is largely misunderstood and misrepresented.

Whilst it is not a secret organization there is only so much we can tell our candidates before joining the Freemasonry. It is equivalent of telling somebody the plot to The Mousetrap, the West End's most successful play. At the end people who have been to see the play are sworn to secrecy. If you know the plot, what is the point of going? Ultimately, then, there will always be an element of what is known as 'asymmetric information': that is to say only known by those who have undertaken the experience.

Freemasonry is also experiential. It is impossible to express in words what the ceremonies are like because they are indefatigable. This is somewhat like climbing. It is impossible to describe the adrenalin, the challenge and the teamwork involved in a way that is understandable to those who have never experienced it.

The first year in freemasonry is critical. It is literally, an apprenticeship. As freemasonry has a unique system of rituals it takes time to become familiar with its particular system of learning. Therefore the first year of any freemason's membership is one of socialization or, "“whatever it is one has to know or believe in order to operate in a manner acceptable to its members”  as W.H. Goodenough put it in Cultural anthropology and linguistics.

But what happens if what is beyond the wardrobe is not what was expected? After all, it is a completely different world. This is what marketers refer to as cognitive dissonance: the expected (which, due to asymmetric information is impossible to inform of fully or express in words) is different from the reality. When people join Freemasonry I ask one thing of them: that they stick with it for 12 months and get to understand what it is all about. After that if they still don't like it then, fair enough. Like many things in life anything that is worth doing is worth taking some effort, otherwise there is no reward.

Alas, for those who fail their apprenticeship and leave after the first year they have also failed themselves by not honouring the promise they made before they joined.