Eli5: Why is it easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled?
In: 634
It feels good to think you are right about things and other people are wrong. It feels bad to think you are wrong and other people are right.
If you want to fool someone, the easiest way to do it is to tell them things they already want to believe. They’ll feel good and accept it right away. If someone else tries to tell them the truth, but the truth is something they don’t want to hear, then they will find all kinds of reasons to reject it. They do that because to accept that they were wrong, it means that they have to deal with those bad feelings of knowing they were wrong about something. They’d rather believe that they are right and others are wrong – even if it’s _everyone else_ that is wrong.
Because of this, many people can’t be convinced of something by just showing them facts, or explaining things to them. Experts know this and instead find ways to get them to _feel good_ about believing whatever it is they want them to believe. Advertising is a good example of this. Advertisements are designed to make you _feel good_ about wanting to buy whatever product they are selling. Propaganda works the same way.
People who understand this very well and who are willing to use that technique are usually not the same people who are very interested in understanding the truth and getting other people to understand it as well. Scientists, teachers, doctors, etc., all find the truth by making observations and by thinking about them rather than just basing everything on how they feel. So, when they try to convince people of things, especially people who have been fooled by others, they don’t usually worry about making them feel good about believing the truth. Instead they try to just explain things the way they would want others to explain it to them.
So, in order to trick a person into believing lies, you just have to find what they want to believe and wrap the lie up in that. If you want to get people to believe the truth, you have to first understand the truth, which is usually complicated, then you have to explain the truth, which is challenging because there is only one way to be right, but many ways to be wrong, and finally you have to find a way to wrap all of that up in an good feeling that the person wants to have. That good feeling has to be more powerful than the bad feeling they will have when they realize they have been tricked.
Unless someone knows how to identify red flags, people will believe what they want to hear. For example when you want to deceive someone into a pyramid scheme, you tell them it’s an easy way to make money, which is what anyone wants to hear. Once they’re in it, they want to be reassured that they made the right choice, but don’t want to hear that they’re being scammed.
Fooling people is about exploiting their weaknesses.
Convincing people they’ve been fooled is about exposing their weaknesses.
Nobody wants to admit they were wrong. It’s pride they would rather die than lose their sense of pride
Because no one wants to admit they are gullible enough to believe a falsehood, even one as dubious as “the Earth is flat”.
Wizard’s First Rule: People are stupid.
People will believe in anything if they want it to be true, or they fear it may be true.
Convincing them that something may be true other than the thing they have ALREADY CHOSEN TO BELIEVE IN, is where it all the unpleasantness begins.
Fooling someone only requires that someone be human.
Convincing them that they have been fooled requires them to be introspective about the fact that they are human.
It’s a bit like those old SAT questions.
Confirmation bias along with being stupid. Powerful combo. Intelligent people constantly review their ideas and beliefs. Stupid people don’t.
Vegas is based on the theory people would rather “double down” and lose even more, than admit defeat and just quit where they are.
Because we want answers.
A lie is at least something we can chew on, while convincing someone they were lied to pits your advice against their own ego, having believed the lie. You introduce uncertainty, so *you* must be the bad agent.
Eli5: Why is it easier to fool people than to convince them that they have been fooled?
In: 634
It feels good to think you are right about things and other people are wrong. It feels bad to think you are wrong and other people are right.
If you want to fool someone, the easiest way to do it is to tell them things they already want to believe. They’ll feel good and accept it right away. If someone else tries to tell them the truth, but the truth is something they don’t want to hear, then they will find all kinds of reasons to reject it. They do that because to accept that they were wrong, it means that they have to deal with those bad feelings of knowing they were wrong about something. They’d rather believe that they are right and others are wrong – even if it’s _everyone else_ that is wrong.
Because of this, many people can’t be convinced of something by just showing them facts, or explaining things to them. Experts know this and instead find ways to get them to _feel good_ about believing whatever it is they want them to believe. Advertising is a good example of this. Advertisements are designed to make you _feel good_ about wanting to buy whatever product they are selling. Propaganda works the same way.
People who understand this very well and who are willing to use that technique are usually not the same people who are very interested in understanding the truth and getting other people to understand it as well. Scientists, teachers, doctors, etc., all find the truth by making observations and by thinking about them rather than just basing everything on how they feel. So, when they try to convince people of things, especially people who have been fooled by others, they don’t usually worry about making them feel good about believing the truth. Instead they try to just explain things the way they would want others to explain it to them.
So, in order to trick a person into believing lies, you just have to find what they want to believe and wrap the lie up in that. If you want to get people to believe the truth, you have to first understand the truth, which is usually complicated, then you have to explain the truth, which is challenging because there is only one way to be right, but many ways to be wrong, and finally you have to find a way to wrap all of that up in an good feeling that the person wants to have. That good feeling has to be more powerful than the bad feeling they will have when they realize they have been tricked.
Unless someone knows how to identify red flags, people will believe what they want to hear. For example when you want to deceive someone into a pyramid scheme, you tell them it’s an easy way to make money, which is what anyone wants to hear. Once they’re in it, they want to be reassured that they made the right choice, but don’t want to hear that they’re being scammed.
Fooling people is about exploiting their weaknesses.
Convincing people they’ve been fooled is about exposing their weaknesses.
Nobody wants to admit they were wrong. It’s pride they would rather die than lose their sense of pride
Because no one wants to admit they are gullible enough to believe a falsehood, even one as dubious as “the Earth is flat”.
Wizard’s First Rule: People are stupid.
People will believe in anything if they want it to be true, or they fear it may be true.
Convincing them that something may be true other than the thing they have ALREADY CHOSEN TO BELIEVE IN, is where it all the unpleasantness begins.
Fooling someone only requires that someone be human.
Convincing them that they have been fooled requires them to be introspective about the fact that they are human.
It’s a bit like those old SAT questions.
Confirmation bias along with being stupid. Powerful combo. Intelligent people constantly review their ideas and beliefs. Stupid people don’t.
Vegas is based on the theory people would rather “double down” and lose even more, than admit defeat and just quit where they are.
Because we want answers.
A lie is at least something we can chew on, while convincing someone they were lied to pits your advice against their own ego, having believed the lie. You introduce uncertainty, so *you* must be the bad agent.
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