The Neuroscience of Why We’re Susceptible to Lies, Outrage, and Fascism
Feb 18, 2024
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Exploring habituation, authoritarian regimes normalization, paying to quit social media addiction, repeating lies belief, Meta's political content halt, Biden on TikTok, Selena Gomez deepfake scam, tech-induced comas impact, algorithm changes on social media, TikTok politics and deep fake scams, habituation in brain and stimuli perception, social media habituation neuroscience, political integrity post-Trump, unraveling misinformation impact, Julia Roberts empathy and Chinese perspective
Habituation can mask the erosion of democracy by normalizing authoritarian regimes over time.
Dis-habituation entrepreneurs challenge societal norms to prevent further habituation to harmful behaviors.
Repetition of lies by authoritarian leaders exploits habituation to make false information seem believable.
Deep dives
The Power of Habituation in Descent into Fascism
The book discusses how habituation can make the loss of democracy difficult to notice. By comparing it to the incremental nature of Nazi Germany's descent into fascism, the author highlights how each increment of authoritarianism seemed less horrifying than if it had happened suddenly. This gradual normalization of incremental changes in society can make it harder for people to recognize the erosion of democracy and the rise of authoritarianism.
The Importance of Dis-habituation
Dis-habituation entrepreneurs play a crucial role in holding a mirror up to society and making people see what has become normalized. By highlighting the contrast between current practices and founding or contemporary ideals, these individuals push people to question and challenge the status quo. They help to reawaken awareness and prevent further habituation to harmful or extreme behaviors and ideologies.
The Role of Propaganda and Misinformation
The chapter on misinformation examines how authoritarian leaders leverage repetition and propaganda to manipulate public perception and belief. Habituation plays a role in people's willingness to believe false information, as repeated exposure can make falsehoods seem normal and acceptable. Recognizing the power of repetition and being vigilant against misinformation is essential in mitigating its damaging effects.
The Habituation Effect and Social Media Addiction
The podcast explores how the brain's habituation effect leads to us overlooking both positive and negative aspects of our lives. The hosts discuss how social media addiction is exacerbated by habituation, making it difficult for people to recognize the negative impact of excessive screen time. They explain that taking a break from social media can help to reset our perception and make us realize the harms associated with its overuse.
Addressing Misinformation and Developing Trustworthy Messages
The podcast delves into strategies for combating misinformation. It highlights the importance of not directly repeating false claims when debunking them, as this can inadvertently spread the misinformation further. Instead, the podcast suggests challenging the source of the lie rather than engaging with its content. It also presents an experiment that shows how introducing a 'trust' button on social media can lead to the circulation of more truthful content and reduce the spread of falsehoods.
Cass Sunstein, Harvard professor and coauthor of the forthcoming book, Look Again, joins Offline to discuss the dangers of habituation. When things become so commonplace that they blend into the background of our everyday lives, we stop appreciating the good and identifying the bad. Jon and Cass examine how authoritarian regimes are normalized, whether you can pay people to quit their social media addictions, and why repeating lies makes them more believable. But first! Max and Jon dive into Meta’s decision to stop recommending political content on their platforms, President Biden’s foray onto TikTok, and what a recent Selena Gomez deepfake means for the future of scamming.
For a closed-captioned version of this episode, click here. For a transcript of this episode, please email transcripts@crooked.com and include the name of the podcast.
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