I’ve wanted to address the issue of anger and resentment for some time but wondered how to approach it. But it was everything that has transpired in Minneapolis culminating with the tragic and senseless murders of Renee Good and Alex Pretti that made me understand that my initial thoughts were caught in a wave of assumptions. Anger and resentment were a reactive byproduct; the true culprit was gullibility.
Yes; gullibility. That unfortunate (dis)ability to believe anything that suits a person’s disposition or their version of reality. There is the notion of being credulous, but that implies someone who is ready to believe something without much evidence but may have the ability to discern when something seems a bit – off. Think of it this way: When you’re credulous, you purchase the truth from a retailer you believe to be reputable. When you’re gullible, you purchase truth from a wholesaler selling factoids that match what you heard from an intoxicated college kid standing outside of a bar. I may be locking myself into a type here, but the concept should land you close enough.
There are many sources out there that can easily feed a receptive mind. For example: Polls. Whenever I see certain types of polls being announced – regardless of political affiliations or associations, I can feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. And that’s because polls are used like a mathematical version of he said / she said. Some late-night comedians often poke fun at the various associations pulling these numbers together, and that’s fine. Some do have names that merit the occasional ribbing. But polls are nothing more than statistical averages drawn from a randomized selection of people. And the validity of information acquired through such means tends to get a bit tarnished when you consider that the randomization is based on a certain set of criteria chosen by whomever is running, managing or funding the poll.
Am I saying that polls should be dismissed outright? No, of course not. These are but some of the mechanisms available by which we should be able to measure the soundness or popularity of a process, political trend or public opinion. And polls are but one way for us to gauge how truth stacks up. I would certainly hope that they’re approached more with a credulous nature than one with ample amounts of gullibility. But the unassailable fact is that we in the US are in the middle of the country’s biggest ideological storm in over 220 years. So in my humble opinion, that hope of mine decidedly polls towards the latter.
You Buy That?
Why are some people gullible? Well, the scientific community has found that some people’s brains choose intuition over analysis simply because the brain is trying to save some time. In other words, people tend to go with the flow that usually comes from their gut feeling. In a 2016 study1 conducted at the University of Southern California (USC), it was found that incorrect beliefs chosen by intuition were difficult to correct. And that’s primarily because correction strategies to get from a lie to the truth usually backfire when the lie is reinforced through repetition, increasing the chance of it spreading and being accepted, thus giving birth to a credible piece of disinformation.
OK; great. But how does that make someone gullible? When you choose your gut feeling or intuition, your brain will automatically go through five criteria to judge whether or not something is true. The five criteria are:
- Does a fact come from a credible source?
- Do others believe it?
- Is there plenty of evidence to support it?
- Is it compatible with what I believe?
- Does it tell a good story?
At face value, these questions seem pretty straightforward and capable of helping us arrive at a sensible conclusion. But they’re not. Each of them can easily be sidelined by information that may not reside anywhere near the truth. And that’s because of how we interact with the world; how we react within the world. Remember: your brain is looking for an easy out. So when we think of credible sources, our mind usually goes to those with whom we’ve built a given degree of trust or familiarity. The shorthand version in your brain sees that person as a talking figurehead that you believe merely because that’s the way your mind has accepted that person. At that stage, the issue of whether or not they’re seen as an expert doesn’t come into the picture; neither will the number of people who may or may not support the views espoused by your mind’s choice of authority. And if (or when) that person appears at multiple venues repeating a certain piece of information, that gives the appearance of being more popular and therefore carrying more weight than it should. That’s when the brain translates repetitiveness and volume as truth.
The fascinating part is when a statement or implied truth creates an easy-to-follow story that you can quickly visualize in your mind. When something appears less convoluted and it’s easy for you to comprehend without breaking into a sweat, you will expect that given information to be true, even if it isn’t. This is called cognitive fluency, and it’s the reason by which information that is simple and easy to understand sticks in your mind as something you can trust when making a decision.2 On the other hand, information that creates a sense of doubt or distrust won’t stick as well. It’s the reason why certain changes in marketing programs or graphic designs fail because the trust and familiarity that the original branding created has gotten lost.
Am I Gullible?
Oh, you betcha.3 But you need to understand one thing: We all are prone to be gullible. When something you hear suits you to a tee, you actually invite gullibility. And yes, it does happen to some people more so than others. That’s because some folks are not adverse to putting in the effort necessary to arrive at the truth through careful deliberation, vetting facts and experts, and being reticent to believe something solely because it aligns with their opinion or those of their sources.
Being gullible often means that you’ll agree with the majority for the sake of dodging additional work or merely to avoid conflict. Sometimes, it’s because you place a great emphasis on leadership and consider a challenge to the status quo to be tantamount to rocking the boat. This also leads to a belief that people in authority or power are beyond reproach based on their status or purported knowledge. The tendency to place people on pedestals makes it that much harder to evaluate any potential flaws.
Some people are gullible because they place a high degree of validity on their own knowledge, believing that their expertise is beyond reproach. As an educator many years ago, I discovered that every teacher can learn and every student can teach. That helped to remind me that knowledge comes from the unlikeliest of sources, and that everything I know is always up for interpretation.
Then there’s the concept of pluralistic ignorance.4 That means that something can’t be all that bad if everyone is doing or agreeing with it. Take a moment to think about that; history offers no shortage of examples that have ended in a blaze of gullible glory.
Final Thoughts
Back in 2024, I wrote an article5 that explained the notions of Repetition Bias and Hebb’s Law; I would suggest giving it a read. Gullibility is one of those attributes that doesn’t change; it changes you under the guise of certainty, convenience or simple reassurance.
We’re now living in a world where repetition isn’t merely a tool for learning; it’s a false positive that can masquerade as truth and familiarity that welcomes you to override scrutiny. Believing a lie is no longer the mistake of a frazzled mind; that dubious honor occurs when you surrender the responsibility for questioning it. News flash: Truth requires effort; it always has and it always will.
You become the useful fool to someone else’s narrative the instant you stop examining the veracity of what you’re told. And once that happens, you surreptitiously switch lanes in mid-journey from a creature of understanding to a pawn of control.
We are all subject to a massive influx of information designed to saturate our minds into submission. When coupled with an overloaded schedule, the pressures of responsibility at home and at work, and the incessant messaging, you begin to see how easily you can be made to be gullible.
Now I know that a few people will read this commentary and jump to conclusions in a manner that would make the American Olympic long jumper Mike Powell turn green with envy.
But the simple (yet dangerous) act of becoming gullible has been elevated to the status of a weapon of mass distraction from which no one is exonerated. Thankfully, there are people who will come to your aid to ensure that you’re immune from that cycle of confusion. And if you just believed that last statement, well, then you’ve just proven how gullible you can be.
This commentary isn’t meant as another source for spreading fear. It’s merely a way to remind you that we’ve spent the last ten plus years flooding the communication superhighways with disinformation and minimally vetted facts – all in a concerted effort to discredit, denigrate or silence the sources of information that carry the truth. And that’s because truth is power. And when you don’t have power, then you need to destroy what exists and replace it with a version that suits your narrative.
With artificial intelligence (AI) bringing forth an unnerving ability to create hyper-realistic scenes of disinformation, you need to be mindful to take the time and assess the validity of the truths in your head. Because gullibility has already proven its efficacy, and most people have demonstrated that their addled minds are able to provide the fertile soil in which to plant the seeds of divisiveness and destruction.
- https://www.researchgate.net/publication/295478583_Making_The_Truth_Stick_and_The_Myths_Fade_Lessons_from_Cognitive_Psychology ↩︎
- https://informationsecurity.wustl.edu/keeping-information-security-simple-deceptive-minds-and-cognitive-processing-fluency/ ↩︎
- https://www.psychologytoday.com/za/blog/motivate/202102/you-are-more-gullible-you-think ↩︎
- https://www.reed.edu/psychology/pluralisticignorance/ ↩︎
- https://beingfrank.blog/2024/06/23/its-something-you-wrote/ ↩︎
What you have to say will go a long way…