On the Importance of Being Alert

The Illusion of Truth

Repetition is used everywhere—advertising, politics and the media—but
does it really persuade us? Psychology studies reveal all...
On the Psyblog

Extracts:
“We see ads for the same products over and over again. Politicians
repeat the same messages endlessly (even when it has nothing to do
with the question they've been asked). Journalists repeat the same
opinions day after day. Can all this repetition really be persuasive?
It seems too simplistic that just repeating a persuasive message
should increase its effect, but that's exactly what psychological
research finds (again and again). (…)

This is what psychologists call the illusion of truth effect and it
arises at least partly because familiarity breeds liking. As we are
exposed to a message again and again, it becomes more familiar.
Because of the way our minds work, what is familiar is also true.
Familiar things require less effort to process and that feeling of
ease unconsciously signals truth (this is called cognitive fluency).

As every politician knows, there's not much difference between actual
truth and the illusion of truth. Since illusions are often easier to
produce, why bother with the truth?

The exact opposite is also true. If something is hard to think about
then people tend to believe it less. Naturally this is very bad news
for people trying to persuade others of complicated ideas in what is a
very complicated world. (…)

Repetition is effective almost across the board when people are paying
little attention, but when they are concentrating and the argument is
weak, the effect disappears. (…)

When the argument is strong, though, it doesn't matter whether or not
the audience is concentrating hard, repetition will increase
persuasion. Unfortunately I find it's often people with the best
arguments who don't repeat them enough.”

Darwin for Policymakers

Why we are, as we are

As the 150th anniversary of the publication of “On The Origin of Species” approaches, the moment has come to ask how Darwin’s insights can be used profitably by policymakers

The Economist, 18/12/08

Extract:

“WEALTH, according to H.L. Mencken, an American satirist of the last century, “is any income that is at least $100 more a year than the income of one's wife's sister's husband.” Adjusted for inflation since 1949, that is not a bad definition. But why do those who are already well-off feel the need to out-earn other people? And why, contrariwise, is it so hard to abolish poverty?

America, Mencken's homeland, executes around 40 people a year for murder. Yet it still has a high murder rate. Why do people murder each other when they are almost always caught and may, in America at least, be killed themselves as a result?

Why, after 80 years of votes for women, and 40 years of the feminist revolution, do men still earn larger incomes? And why do so many people hate others merely for having different coloured skin?

Traditionally, the answers to such questions, and many others about modern life, have been sought in philosophy, sociology, even religion. But the answers that have come back are generally unsatisfying. They describe, rather than explain. They do not get to the nitty-gritty of what it truly is to be human. Policy based on them does not work. This is because they ignore the forces that made people what they are: the forces of evolution.”

On Social Inequality and Psychopaths

The 1% are the very best destroyers of wealth the world has ever seen

By George Monbiot, The Guardian, 7/11/11

Extracts:

“If wealth was the inevitable result of hard work and enterprise, every woman in Africa would be a millionaire. The claims that the ultra-rich 1% make forthemselves – that they are possessed of unique intelligence or creativity or drive – are examples of the self-attribution fallacy. This means crediting yourself with outcomes for which you weren't responsible. Many of those who are rich today got there because they were able to capture certain jobs. This capture owes less to talent and intelligence than to a combination of the ruthless exploitation of others and accidents of birth, as such jobs are taken disproportionately by people born in certain places and into certain classes.

The findings of the psychologist Daniel Kahneman, winner of a Nobel economics prize, are devastating to the beliefs that financial high-fliers entertain about themselves. He discovered that their apparent success is a cognitive illusion. For example, he studied the results achieved by 25 wealth advisers across eight years. He found that the consistency of their performance was zero. "The results resembled what you would expect from a dice-rolling contest, not a game of skill." Those who received the biggest bonuses had simply got lucky.

(…)

In a study published by the journal Psychology, Crime andLaw, Belinda Board and Katarina Fritzon tested 39 senior managers and chief executives from leading British businesses. They compared the results to the same tests on patients at Broadmoor special hospital, where people who have been convicted of serious crimes are incarcerated. On certain indicators of psychopathy, the bosses' scores either matched or exceeded those of the patients. In fact, on these criteria, they beat even the subset of patients who had been diagnosed with psychopathic personality disorders.

The psychopathic traits on which the bosses scored so highly, Board and Fritzon point out, closely resemble the characteristics that companies look for. Those who have these traits often possess great skill in flattering and manipulating powerful people. Egocentricity, a strong sense of entitlement, a readiness to exploit others and a lack of empathy and conscience are also unlikely to damage their prospects in many corporations. (…) This is not to suggest that all executives are psychopaths. It is to suggest that the economy has been rewarding the wrong skills.

(…)

Between 1947 and 1979, productivity in the US rose by 119%, while the income of the bottom fifth of the population rose by 122%. But from 1979 to 2009, productivity rose by 80%, while the income of the bottom fifth fell by 4%. In roughly the same period, the income of the top 1% rose by 270%. In the UK, the money earned by the poorest tenth fell by 12% between 1999 and 2009, while the money made by the richest 10th rose by 37%. The Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality, climbed in this country from 26 in 1979 to 40 in 2009.”

Sobre a Indiferença

“Minhas raízes são aéreas”

Revista Época, 25/04/11

Entrevista com a psicóloga Debora Noal, voluntária de Médicos Sem Fronteiras.

Extrato:

“E como você lida, Debora, com a indiferença? Explico: você volta para o Brasil e muita gente não está nem aí, não é? A maioria das pessoas, de fato, não está nem aí para o sofrimento do outro. Se interessa apenas em cuidar da própria vida ou no máximo daqueles que considera sua família de sangue.

Debora – Isso é bem difícil. Quando eu volto, as perguntas são sempre as mesmas. Mas as reações também são muito parecidas. As perguntas vêm do encantamento de alguém que escuta uma história de filme. O interesse termina quando termina a mesa de bar, ou quando termina a conversa na rua ou na praia. Isso me assusta um pouco, sabe? Até onde você se sente tocado para mudar uma história? Não estou dizendo que todo mundo precise fazer esse trabalho, nem que todo mundo precise ser muito militante, não é isso. Mas é uma sensação de que as pessoas se conformam com tão pouco, sabe? Muitas choram, até. Mas quando eu termino de contar é como se desligassem a TV. Ou saíssem da sala de cinema. A tristeza dura a emoção daquela cena. E é uma pena que eu não consiga fazer com que as pessoas sintam a dor daquelas pessoas naquele momento.

Parece que não há conexão, não é?

Debora – Uma inquietação, pelo menos... Não quero que o mundo inteiro seja triste, não quero que o mundo inteiro fique mal, não é isso. Mas como tocar o lado A do mundo? Como tocar essas pessoas que estão dentro desse contexto estável, dentro de suas vidas tranquilas, de seu carro novo? Ok, como fazer com que essas pessoas pensem em uma forma de fazer do mundo um lugar um pouco diferente? Não quero que todas estejam na África ou que todas vão para o Haiti, mas acho que cada um pode fazer uma coisa muito pequena para poder mudar isso, sabe? Coisas bem pequenas, mesmo, que você pode ir mudando. Tipo: eu estou te contando que tem trabalho escravo nesse lugar. Ok, você pode não comprar um produto desse lugar. Ou estou te falando que nesse lugar existe determinado tipo de violência. O que você pode fazer com isso? Eu acho que você sempre consegue fazer alguma coisa. Dentro do nosso país, mesmo, tem muita coisa para ser feita e acho que a gente não faz porque essa tranqüilidade – ou essa acomodação com roupagem de tranquilidade – dá uma sensação de conforto para as pessoas. (…)

E isso não te dá uma solidão muito grande na volta? 

Debora – Acho que nas primeiras duas, três missões, eu me sentia um pouco solitária. Eu queria contar mais detalhes. Mas as pessoas querem ouvir até certo ponto. No ponto em que começa a tocar muito o sentimento, o sofrimento, a angústia, e que elas não conseguem traduzir isso em uma ação ou um significado mais concreto, elas começam a ficar desconfortáveis nessa escuta. Então nessas primeiras duas, três missões, era um pouco... como assim? As pessoas não querem ouvir mais? Mas hoje eu já compreendo. Ok, elas não escolheram esse mundo para elas, eu não tenho o direito de forçá-las a um mundo que não querem. Cada um tem a sua escolha. Inclusive, a escolha de dizer: “Eu quero viver nesse outro mundo”. E a alienação também traz felicidade. Você não saber de tudo, você não saber de uma série de penúrias e de desgraças do mundo também te traz um conforto e uma sensação de felicidade de.... Ok, tudo o que eu sei é que meu filho está bem alimentado, dormindo num bercinho bonito, que acabei de reformar o quarto dele com um arquiteto. Está tudo ótimo. Tipo, a alienação também é isso, também traz conforto. Mas eu não escolhi esse lado. Eu escolhi saber, eu escolhi ver.”

On the Substitution Principle

Asked a tricky question? Answer an easier one

By Oliver Burkeman, The Guardian, 9/3/12

Extract:

“You ask how you can minimise your impact on the environment, but the question you answer is, "How can I feel like I'm doing my bit?" – which helps explain the phenomenon known as "moral licensing", whereby people who use canvas bags at the supermarket feel entitled to take long-haul flights. Or you ask if you had a productive day, but what you answer is, "Did today feel unpleasant and/or effortful?" which isn't the same at all.”

On Regrets

Top five regrets of the dying

A nurse has recorded the most common regrets of the dying.

By Susie Steiner, The Guarduan, 1/2/12

Extract:

1. I wish I'd had the courage to live a life true to myself, not the life others expected of me.

"This was the most common regret of all. When people realise that their life is almost over and look back clearly on it, it is easy to see how many dreams have gone unfulfilled. Most people had not honoured even a half of their dreams and had to die knowing that it was due to choices they had made, or not made. Health brings a freedom very few realise, until they no longer have it."

2. I wish I hadn't worked so hard.

"This came from every male patient that I nursed. They missed their children's youth and their partner's companionship. Women also spoke of this regret, but as most were from an older generation, many of the female patients had not been breadwinners. All of the men I nursed deeply regretted spending so much of their lives on the treadmill of a work existence."

3. I wish I'd had the courage to express my feelings.

"Many people suppressed their feelings in order to keep peace with others. As a result, they settled for a mediocre existence and never became who they were truly capable of becoming. Many developed illnesses relating to the bitterness and resentment they carried as a result."

4. I wish I had stayed in touch with my friends.

"Often they would not truly realise the full benefits of old friends until their dying weeks and it was not always possible to track them down. Many had become so caught up in their own lives that they had let golden friendships slip by over the years. There were many deep regrets about not giving friendships the time and effort that they deserved. Everyone misses their friends when they are dying."

5. I wish that I had let myself be happier.

"This is a surprisingly common one. Many did not realise until the end that happiness is a choice. They had stayed stuck in old patterns and habits. The so-called 'comfort' of familiarity overflowed into their emotions, as well as their physical lives. Fear of change had them pretending to others, and to their selves, that they were content, when deep within, they longed to laugh properly and have silliness in their life again."

Thoughts

"Consensus has been a notoriously poor guide for truth."

"When it's darkest, men see the stars"

"Declarations of high confidence mainly tell you that an individual has contructed a coherent story in their mind, not necessarily that the story is true."

"The commonsense rules of the 'real world' are a fragile collection of socially reinforced illusions."

"Popular perceptions, values, and ways of doing things are rarely the wisest. Many pervasive beliefs would not pass appropriate tests of rationality. Conventional thinking — its means and ends — is essentially uncreative and uninteresting. Its job is to preserve the status quo for overly self-defended individuals and institutions."