The Real Suckers Are Always The Ones That Think They’re Playing It Smart
A 2021 Pew survey found that roughly half of US adults get their news often or sometimes from social media, sources that are subject to influence by not only run-of-the-mill trolls and hucksters, but also by nation states deliberately looking to shape and distort what we think. Clearly, we live in an era of misinformation and disinformation.
The effect goes far beyond those directly exposed. Much like an epidemic, those influenced by misinformation and disinformation tend to pass it on and, since we tend to be heavily influenced by our local environments, fiction can begin to seem more real than fact. In social theory, this is called the principle of reflexivity.
We tend to assume that getting taken in is due to a lack of education and intelligence, but that’s rarely the case. Smart people get fooled all the time. In fact, those who intend to deceive us often start by flattering our intelligence, making us feel that we’re privy to information that others fail to grasp. It is by boosting our confidence that they take us in.
The Inverse Relationship Between Confidence And Competence
In 1995, McArthur Wheeler and Clifton Earl Johnson robbed two banks in Pittsburgh in broad daylight. Being completely visible to…
