We are susceptible to misinformation, disinformation, and propaganda that aligns with out beliefs.
In general, our working assumption is that our beliefs are true. Very few of us believe that our beliefs are false. We see this in religious beliefs, political beliefs, parenting beliefs, beliefs we adhere to at work, etc.
In general, our natural inclination is to protect the beliefs we hold from information that conflicts with our beliefs, even when that information is true.
Information that conflicts with our beliefs is generally flagged and rejected, making it readily noticeable.
In general, this same tendency makes us vulnerable to information that aligns with our beliefs. We tend to accept it without question, even when it’s false.
The potential solution is to superimpose critical thinking skills on our natural tendencies. However, we don’t come into the world with natural critical thinking skills. Critical thinking skills are learned and require effort.
Very few of us have well developed critical thinking skills.
Even people with developed critical thinking skills are susceptible to this cognitive phenomenon when it comes to their core beliefs.
I have studied this professionally, but I also watch this occur within myself as I navigate social media. For example, when I encounter a post that is aligned with my beliefs, it requires effort to stop myself from simply believing it and fact-check it to make sure it is true. My natural Impulse is to just accept it as true and click “share”. When I encounter information that conflicts with my beliefs my natural impulse is to reject it as false. It requires even more effort to fact-check it to see if it’s true.
When I was younger (early 30s) I switched from a business career to a mental health career. This was an extraordinarily cognitively painful career shift. As it turned out, my entire world view, pretty much every belief I held, much of what I had been taught by my parents and society, turned out to be false. I spent the first 6 months in considerable cognitive pain. I searched the newspaper every Sunday for new jobs. Seeing that there were options I was able to continue working - 1 week at a time.
I spent the 1st two years (at least) dissembling and reassembling my world view around this conflicting information - information that demonstrated very clearly that my pre-existing beliefs had been at least partially but in some cases wholly wrong.
K. H. Little Consulting Services
Kenneth H. Little, MA
KHLittle603@gmail.com
