If you think you’re immune to bigoted rhetoric because you’re too smart to be manipulated, you are the most susceptible to be influenced.
The human brain is great at hearing about a psychological quirk and going “haha, that sure is a thing everyone but me does. I’m a flawless logic machine.”
“But how can I know they’re wrong if I don’t listen to what they’re saying?”
That’s not how the brain works. When presented with a logical reason that something you deeply believe is wrong, the brain rejects the information. You do this. I do this. Every human ever does this.
That’s not how the brain works. When presented with a logical reason that something you deeply believe is wrong, the brain rejects the information. You do this. I do this. Every human ever does this.
So then, how do we get influenced? There’s a lot of ways, but a big one is repetition. If you keep subjecting yourself to bigoted media, you’re going to internalize some bigoted views. It doesn’t matter how smart you are; it will start to happen. This is why slogans work so well.
