Why supposedly intelligent people are falling for the narrative.
The evolutionary psychologist William von Hippel found that humans use a large part of their thinking power to find their way in their complicated social world. "Why is my boss looking so weird today? What does my neighbour's reference to my new car mean? Is the waitress flirting with me or just being friendly?"
Our "social" brain indeed checks facts from time to time. But much more relevant to it is the question: what are the social consequences if I do or say this or that? So we have a mechanism in our mind that, in case of doubt, even prevents us from thinking what is right if, in return, it endangers our social status.
This phenomenon occurs more strongly the higher a person's social and economic status. Educated or wealthy people are more concerned about what others might think of their views. This is because they have an academic reputation or a good professional position to lose.
Another factor is that the more educated and more intelligent a person is, the more adept their brain is at selling them the biggest nonsense as a reasonable idea, as long as it elevates their social status. As a result, the upper educated middle class tends to be more inclined than ordinary people to chase after some intellectual boondoggle.
The American data analyst David Shor observed in comprehensive studies that educated people to have more ideologically coherent and extreme views than working-class people. Cab drivers, cleaning ladies, tradesmen or warehouse workers often have much more grip on reality and common sense than professors, teachers and senior civil servants. The ideological fellow traveller, therefore, sits less at the regulars' table and more in the lecture hall.
Follow me: @Goddek
The evolutionary psychologist William von Hippel found that humans use a large part of their thinking power to find their way in their complicated social world. "Why is my boss looking so weird today? What does my neighbour's reference to my new car mean? Is the waitress flirting with me or just being friendly?"
Our "social" brain indeed checks facts from time to time. But much more relevant to it is the question: what are the social consequences if I do or say this or that? So we have a mechanism in our mind that, in case of doubt, even prevents us from thinking what is right if, in return, it endangers our social status.
This phenomenon occurs more strongly the higher a person's social and economic status. Educated or wealthy people are more concerned about what others might think of their views. This is because they have an academic reputation or a good professional position to lose.
Another factor is that the more educated and more intelligent a person is, the more adept their brain is at selling them the biggest nonsense as a reasonable idea, as long as it elevates their social status. As a result, the upper educated middle class tends to be more inclined than ordinary people to chase after some intellectual boondoggle.
The American data analyst David Shor observed in comprehensive studies that educated people to have more ideologically coherent and extreme views than working-class people. Cab drivers, cleaning ladies, tradesmen or warehouse workers often have much more grip on reality and common sense than professors, teachers and senior civil servants. The ideological fellow traveller, therefore, sits less at the regulars' table and more in the lecture hall.
Follow me: @Goddek