"Much of what we believe to be rational is shaped by delusion: we cling to simplified explanations, even when evidence proves them false. Human beings have always lived with a psychological structural stupidity, a kind of symbolic impoverishment contained within our intelligent capacities, a tendency to mythologise events, distort memory and behave as if half aware of our own misperceptions."
"We idealise leaders, invent grandiose theories and develop conspiracy stories hoping that they will all fulfil our deepest yearnings; they feel real enough to shape collective behaviour, whether in politics, religion or social movements. Psychologists map this terrain with concepts such as bullshit receptivity: the readiness to accept superficial slogans, pseudo-scientific claims or comforting myths, rather than engaging in critical thinking. As the historian Rick Shenkman observed, this manifests either as wooden-headedness (believing what we wish were true) or bone-headedness (succumbing to cliches and stereotypes)."
Human cognition harbours a persistent structural stupidity that shapes beliefs and political outcomes. People cling to simplified explanations, mythologise events, distort memory and act with partial awareness of their misperceptions. Idealisation of leaders, grandiose theories and conspiracy stories fulfil deep yearnings and influence collective behaviour in politics, religion and social movements. Psychological concepts such as bullshit receptivity describe readiness to accept superficial slogans, pseudo-scientific claims and comforting myths instead of engaging in critical thinking. Wooden-headedness and bone-headedness capture tendencies to believe desired outcomes or succumb to clichés, enabling propaganda, gaslighting and self-deception.
Read at www.theguardian.com
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]