The Illusion of Truth: Why We Easily Believe Myths

A person uses only 10% of the power of his brain. Carrots improve vision. Vitamin C helps with colds. To keep your stomach healthy, be sure to eat soup. Do you think all this is true? No, these are myths that we often hear, and sometimes we ourselves repeat without hesitation. We believe in them because we are subject to the effect of imaginary truth.

When something is repeated many times, it starts to seem like it's true

In trying to understand whether the truth is in front of us or not, we rely on two criteria. The first is that we already know about this, the second is how familiar it sounds. For example, if they tell you that the sky is green, you would never believe it. You know it's blue. But if you have already heard somewhere that it is green, you will be overcome by doubts that may even outweigh common sense. And the more times you have heard this, the more doubts.

Scientists have proven this effect during experiments. Participants were asked to rate a number of statements for truth. After a few weeks or months, they were again given this task, adding new phrases to the list. It was here that the effect of the imaginary truth manifested itself. People more often called what they saw as true.

When we hear something a second or third time, the brain reacts to it faster.

He mistakenly equates such speed with accuracy. In most cases, this makes our life easier. You don't have to rack your brains every time you hear that plants need water to grow or that the sky is blue. The problem is that this principle also works with false statements.

Moreover, previous knowledge does not protect against the effect of imaginary truth. This was proved by the psychologist Lisa Fazio. She experimented with clothing names from different cultures. The participants read the following phrase: "Sari is the national men's costume in Scotland."

After the second reading, doubts began to creep into their heads even for those who knew the correct name of the Scottish skirt. If the first time they judged the phrase as “definitely false”, now they chose the option “probably false”. Yes, they did not completely change their minds, but they began to doubt.

And they use it to deceive us

Nothing bad will happen if you mix up the kilt and the sari. But the effect of imaginary truth affects more serious areas: it is used in politics, advertising and the media to promote ideas.

If there is false information about a person on TV, the public will believe in it. If buyers are surrounded by advertisements for a product on all sides, sales will increase.

The repeated information seems to be more believable.

We begin to think we heard it from a credible source. And when we are tired or we are distracted by other information, we are even more susceptible to this.

But it can be fixed

First, remind yourself that this effect exists. This rule applies to all cognitive biases.

If you have heard something that seems correct, but you cannot explain why, be alert. Study the question in more detail. Take the time to check the numbers and facts. Fact checking is fun. Repeat this phrase several times until you believe it.

When you want to correct someone, proceed carefully: attempts to convey the truth to people often fail.

If a person has heard some "truth" many times, it is difficult to convince him that this is nonsense, and even scientific research may not help. From the phrase "They say that vitamin C helps with colds, but in fact it does not affect recovery in any way" his brain snatches the familiar "helps with colds", and the rest is considered nonsense.

Start your speech with hard data. Quickly mention the error and repeat the truth again. It works because we remember better what we hear at the beginning and end of a story, rather than in the middle.