#742 - Gurwinder Bhogal - 17 Shocking Lessons About Human Psychology
Feb 8, 2024
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Gurwinder Bhogal, a programmer and writer known for his thought-provoking insights on human psychology, dives into fascinating topics today. He reveals the surprising connection between cynicism and intelligence, and discusses why people often prefer being hated over being unknown. The conversation critiques societal trust, performative behaviors in the digital age, and the complexities of fairness and privilege. Additionally, Gurwinder emphasizes the need for originality in content creation and highlights the dangers of intellectual stagnation.
Cynicism is a low-effort cognitive strategy that protects against risk and treachery, but tends to lower performance on cognitive tests.
The problem in society is a lack of trust in mainstream institutions, which has been eroded by high-profile failures and misinformation.
Uncertain outcomes induce anxiety and people create narratives to simplify a complex world, preferring simple storylines over complex statistical analysis.
Punishing speech leads to deception and insincerity, fostering less trust in institutions and more cynicism.
Some individuals prioritize being remembered and famous, even if it means being hated, which creates perverse incentives and sets a bad precedent for young audiences.
Appearing to do good has become more important than actually doing good, hindering genuine positive change and leading to negative outcomes over time.
Deep dives
Cynical people are not smarter, but substitute intelligence with cynicism as a defense mechanism
Cynicism is not a sign of intelligence, but a substitute for it, a way to shield oneself from betrayal and disappointment without having to actually think. Cynical people tend to be lower in their performance on cognitive tests. Cynicism is a low-effort cognitive strategy that protects against risk and treachery. Cynics believe people are only in it for themselves and cannot be trusted. Paradoxically, higher IQ individuals tend to be more trusting and are better at determining whether cynicism is warranted or not.
Lack of trust, not information, is the bottleneck to progress
The problem in society is not a lack of information, but a lack of trust. Trust in mainstream institutions has declined, particularly due to high-profile failures and misinformation during events like the pandemic. Trust in media has also been eroded. Decentralized information systems make censorship ineffective, leading to the spread of information that institutions aim to suppress. The perception of censorship breeds more cynicism and more distrust in institutions, exacerbating the problem and hindering progress.
Uncertainty is often more intolerable than bad outcomes
People tend to find uncertain outcomes less tolerable than bad outcomes. Uncertainty induces anxiety and the mind imagines worse possibilities. This has implications in personal life, such as the anxiety of expecting the worst being worse than the actual event itself. It also applies to society, where people create narratives and stories to simplify a complex world. The need for narratives leads to drama replacing data, and people preferring simple storylines rather than complex statistical analysis.
Punishing speech leads to preference falsification and insincerity
When people are afraid to express their true thoughts and opinions due to punishment or censorship, they are more likely to lie and falsify their preferences. Punishing speech or threatening censorship fosters deception and insincerity. The attempt to control speech ultimately leads to less trust in institutions and cynicism. In the digital age, censorship is ineffective as information spreads rapidly and attempts to censor information only amplify its demand and trust in alternative sources.
The rise of nuisance influencers: the allure of fame through negative behavior
Some individuals prioritize being remembered and famous, even if it means being hated. Social media has created a space for nuisance influencers who generate a following by engaging in negative behavior, pranks, harassment, and committing crimes for attention and clout. These influencers appeal to the worst impulses of the human brain, using limbic hijacking techniques to gain views and followers. This trend creates perverse incentives and sets a bad precedent for young audiences, who may adopt similar behavior to seek fame.
Toxic Compassion and Short-Term Emotional Comfort
In a world where opinions are prioritized over actions, appearing to do good has become more important than actually doing good. Short-term emotional comfort is valued over long-term flourishing, leading to negative outcomes over time. This can be seen in movements like body positivity, where weight is deemed irrelevant to health, discouraging weight loss and resulting in worse outcomes. The same can be observed in the defund the police movement, where generalizing police mistreatment of minorities ignores the complexities of different situations, causing more negative outcomes for those they sought to protect. The prevalence of virtue signaling and luxury beliefs hinders genuine positive change, as focus shifts towards appearing good rather than doing good.
Recognizing Emotional Bias and Pausing Before Acting
Emotions can cloud judgment and lead to regrettable decisions. When acting upon emotions, we represent our most primitive selves and make suboptimal choices. Recognizing this, it is crucial to pause and wait for the feeling to pass before acting. Emotional decision-making is subjective and favors short-term impulses. By allowing emotions to subside, we can evaluate our actions with a clearer and more balanced mindset, preventing potential regrets and enhancing decision quality.
Semantic Stop Signs and Shallow Explanations
Using descriptive labels like 'bigoted' or 'racist' as explanations for behavior creates semantic stop signs that hinder meaningful understanding. By dismissing someone with these labels, we fail to delve deeper into the true reasons behind their beliefs and actions. It is important to go beyond surface-level descriptions and seek explanations that account for individual experiences and perspectives. Dismissing others without understanding only perpetuates misunderstandings and prevents productive conversations.
Beware the Beginner's Bubble Effect and Embrace Broad Learning
The beginner's bubble effect occurs when individuals have a shallow understanding of a topic, leading them to believe they know more than they actually do. To overcome this effect, one must recognize their limits and humility. Instead of focusing on deep knowledge in a narrow field, learning a little about a wide range of topics fosters curiosity, flexibility, and a better ability to predict the future. A broad understanding allows for the recognition of patterns and connections across various subjects, promoting holistic and informed decision-making.
Selective Content Consumption: Spiraling for the Soul
Being selective about the content we consume is necessary to avoid mindless consumption and ensure that what we feed our minds nurtures our souls. Mindlessly browsing social media and consuming low-information content provides short-term emotional gratification but fails to contribute to long-term flourishing. By being intentional about the content we consume, we can seek substance, depth, and variety to broaden our perspectives and promote continuous learning.
Content creation and avoiding convergence
Content creators, like politicians, tend to converge over time. To avoid this, it is essential to create content that you personally want to see rather than chasing what everyone else is doing. By going against the grain and offering something different, you can stand out and attract an audience.
Beliefs and context
Our beliefs are often influenced by the time and place we live in. Considering how our beliefs would differ if we were born in a different era or location can challenge the certainty of our current beliefs. To find more reliable beliefs, it is helpful to seek those that have universal applicability, that can hold true across time and place, rather than being tied solely to our current circumstances.
Gurwinder is one of my favourite Twitter follows. He’s written yet another megathread exploring human nature, cognitive biases, mental models, status games, crowd behaviour and social media. It's fantastic, and today we go through some of my favourites.
Expect to learn whether cynical people are actually smarter, why people tend to find uncertain outcomes so intolerable, why people would rather lie than say what they really think, whether people would rather be hated than unknown, why appearing to do good has become more important than actually doing good and much more...
