Biases — Your brain lies!
Excelled op-ed in the NYtimes titled “Your Brain Lies to You“
FALSE beliefs are everywhere. Eighteen percent of Americans think the sun revolves around the earth, one poll has found.
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This phenomenon, known as source amnesia, can also lead people to forget whether a statement is true. Even when a lie is presented with a disclaimer, people often later remember it as true.
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Adding to this innate tendency to mold information we recall is the way our brains fit facts into established mental frameworks. We tend to remember news that accords with our worldview, and discount statements that contradict it.
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Psychologists have suggested that legends propagate by striking an emotional chord. In the same way, ideas can spread by emotional selection, rather than by their factual merits, encouraging the persistence of falsehoods about Coke — or about a presidential candidate.
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Journalists and campaign workers may think they are acting to counter misinformation by pointing out that it is not true. But by repeating a false rumor, they may inadvertently make it stronger. In its concerted effort to “stop the smears,” the Obama campaign may want to keep this in mind. Rather than emphasize that Mr. Obama is not a Muslim, for instance, it may be more effective to stress that he embraced Christianity as a young man.
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Consumers of news, for their part, are prone to selectively accept and remember statements that reinforce beliefs they already hold.
Thaler and Sunstein make similar arguments in their book: nudge about how voters rely on System I (Automatic, intuitive) brain rather than on the System II (Rational, Reflective) brain.
Tags: Behavioral