cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/2313987

I have noticed that alot of people think the majority of people are stupid based on the things they read online or maybe even experience in real life but I think that there is better explanation than just assuming people are stupid.

A common example people bring up to show that other people are stupid is mentioning how a lot of people believe in conspiracy theories ( such as Qanon or Flat earth) and point out how they are objectively false therefore the people that believe it are stupid.

However when you examine these beliefs in more depth there is obviously some amount of internal logic that is used to justify these beliefs to themselves and others in the group.

You can go to flat earthers forum and they can give huge amounts of “evidence” about how light shouldn’t be visible after 50 kms if the earth was round or how in Qanon there are probably people who have whole boards detailed with connections between how and where democrats participate in satanic rituals but my point is that all conspiracy theories tend to form one cohesive narrative like a collective story that are building.

To be able to make a story that is this detailed it definitely required some amount of forethought and reasoning to make it so everyone in the group reaches the same collective understanding.

This then might lead you to ask why are people susceptible to these ideas and what makes them stick. Well I think that it boils down to three different things.

  1. Our collective feeling that things aren’t going well
  2. Our general distrust in current authorities
  3. Our collective belief that an authority is good/necessary

When you look at how people tend to be influenced into accepting these beliefs it also follows this same general pattern.

  1. People feel that some part of their life isn’t going well and that current institutions aren’t helping them anymore.
  2. A guru/influencer shows up and offers advice (sometimes good advice) to fix their problem
  3. People then start trusting these gurus/influencers and seeing them as authorities
  4. Finally these people take what these gurus/influencers say at face value and build internal lore for their community that makes sense to them given that they accept what the new authority says as fact.

If you want to tackle the root of what makes people susceptible to these ideas you have to tackle those three things or else people will fall into those same traps just with different authorities saying different things.

Also as a semi-related point there are a million and one things that an individual can choose to focus on and become knowledgable about so whilst some people spend that mental capacity on understanding tech or politics others spend that mental capacity on flat earth theory or UFOs.

Main point:

So all of this is to say I think that people aren’t stupid and that we should not treat them as they are such instead if we understand that they are capable of complex reason but they are starting with different base knowledge it’ll be easier to empathize with others. Also if we want society to be less susceptible to this we need to fix one or all of the three things I mentioned that makes us susceptible.

    • flatbield@beehaw.orgEnglish
      0·
      11 months ago

      No people are pretty stupid. The problem is that humans are not thinking creatures. We by in large are feeling creatures that sometimes think. Often the thinking part is used to justify how we feel, not the other way around. This is why emotive arguments are more important then fact.

      The other huge issue is attention span. We are all very busy. The sheer effort to understand an issue is beyond most of us most of the time. We all have to farm that out most if the time.

      Humans have huge blind spots. So yes we are all pretty stupid.

      • jarfil@beehaw.orgEnglish
        0·
        11 months ago

        The attention span links to another one: people try not to look stupid. So when put on the spot, they come up with explanations that, since they had no time to think them through, are even more stupid.

  • king_dead@beehaw.orgEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    Hanlons razor sucks and its no wonder everyone that’s operated it have caused harm to the people it was supposed to protect. Conspiracy theories have so much in common with witch hunts and lynch mobs than people with goofy beliefs. Theyre groups brought together by malice and only deserve the highest amount of scorn society can give them. They’re not stupid and theyre sure as hell not victims or worthy of empathy in any way

  • swallowyourmind@geddit.socialEnglish
    1·
    11 months ago

    I think you may have disapproved your own point.

    To rephrase your second list:

    1. People are unhappy with the lives they have built themselves and the world we have collectively built together.

    2. A conman shows up and tells them it’s not their own fault, it’s others, and the leaders that were chosen.

    3. They believe the conman, because he blames others they don’t like, and make them feel good about themselves.

    4. They make up shit to help square that with reality, and wall themselves off from other people or sources that could shatter that.

    I don’t think that shows them to be smart. Don’t think it would make them not stupid either.

    I agree with the well-written other commenter who argues it makes them irrational, and with another comment that argues they are following emotions rather than logic.

    But for sure I’m sick of being told to placate and empathize with the irrational deplorables yet again.

    Never see an argument that the irrational or uninformed should try to empathize with the rational at any point.

    • Danterious@lemmy.dbzer0.comOPEnglish
      2·
      11 months ago

      I think that people (as in a group of people) can be both really dumb (groupthink) or really smart (collective wisdom) it just depends on how they are networked with each other.

      I linked this post in another comment but it is also relevant to this.

      post: https://lemmy.world/post/2607525

  • shanghaibebop@beehaw.orgEnglish
    0·
    11 months ago

    I disagree.

    Our intelligence was not evolved for too much thinking. Most of our brain is wired towards feeling, and for the overwhelming majority of human existence, our feelings were well suited for small, cooperative, communal existence as small tribes/bands/clans. We don’t “think” for most of the decisions we make in our day to day lives, nor do we try to learn from all the possible sources.

    IMO religion is “needed” in order to shortcut our feeling brain to help make us make the correct collectivist decision. It’s like writing software on shitty firmware and limited hardware so that it can still function in modern society.