Who will be ‘off their gourd’ this Thanksgiving?

Do you know someone who seems perfectly reasonable and nice but has adopted irrational beliefs that you believe are ludicrous or offensive? It will be a rare Thanksgiving table where someone doesn’t wonder how on earth his relative, neighbor, or friend can believe “those things.” Will certain topics be ruled “off the table” to keep the peace at your house?

Dan Ariely in his new book, Misbelief, says misinformation has always been used for strategic advantage, to promote a political agenda, or to gain financially. Social science tells us that we start with an emotional response and then come up with reasons to justify it in a process called conformation bias. Religious, political, or cultural beliefs become part of our core identity and we resent having them challenged.

Studies show some personalities are more susceptible to misbelief, low institutional trust, and political polarization. Unpredictable stressors like pandemics, wars, or losses for your political team will make people feel events are out of control and in desperate need of an explanation. Stress or scarcity reduces our reasoning capacity and causes us to grasp quick-and-easy solutions.

Psychologists have proved people are more resilient to stress if they were raised in emotional safety with secure attachments — believing that if something bad happens somebody will catch us. Secure people focus more on the upside and less on the downside. When insecure people compare themselves to others, they may feel they are at a disadvantage, that their lot in life is harder than it is for “the elites,” resentful, and that someone must be to blame.

Fear of events rather than trust will drive people to seek villains, to malicious conspiracies, to vitriol, and to hate. We all love to get on our high horse and hate villains whether Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton.

Occams Razor is the proposition that the simplest explanation is usually the best one absent contradictory evidence. Hanlons Razor states one should never attribute malice to that which is adequately explained by mistake or human fallibility. Conspiracy theories thrive because humans are not wired to be satisfied with the randomness or bad luck of events but instead look for reasons, and then attribute evil intent.

A conspiracy believer feels they have the comfort of unique knowledge whereas the rest of us are mere sheeple. They often become moral crusaders fighting outrageous evils. The sad fact is most of us find facts to be dull but alternate-reality stories exciting.

Besides all the psychological processes at work, misbelief is furthered by lack of critical thinking skills. We all know people who throw up their hands in frustration and declare they don’t know what to think. They may refuse to inform themselves or even to vote. Is it possible COVID not only damaged some people’s sense of smell but also destroyed their BS detector?

David Mansheim is a retired lawyer, educator and businessman living in Parkersburg.