Gossip Trumps Facts
Behold, a partial explanation of why we are doomed:
A study indicates that many people trust gossip more than facts. In a rotating money game, participants were stingy with partners who had been called stingy by a third party, and generous with partners who had been called generous by a third party, even when 1) the participant saw extensive evidence that the "stingy" partner had actually behaved generously (and that the "generous" partner was stingy) and 2) participants were told that the gossip was not based on evidence beyond what they had seen. Furthermore, the third party's reputation did not affect the impact of his gossip. Old view: Gossip evolved to help society by spreading the truth about people, thereby punishing cheaters. New problem: If gossip overrides truth, cheaters can evade punishment by spreading lies. New rationalizations: 1) In evolutionary history, gossip has been more commonly attainable than direct observation and has been available from multiple sources, so it tends to be more useful. 2) Evolution didn't train us to consider gossipers' reputations because that that much detail is "too demanding for the working memory." Question: Is this why negative political ads work? Human Nature's answer: Yes.
Oh, and have you heard the Atrios and Instapundit are in league with OBL? Pass it on...
[HT: S. rex]
Behold, a partial explanation of why we are doomed:
A study indicates that many people trust gossip more than facts. In a rotating money game, participants were stingy with partners who had been called stingy by a third party, and generous with partners who had been called generous by a third party, even when 1) the participant saw extensive evidence that the "stingy" partner had actually behaved generously (and that the "generous" partner was stingy) and 2) participants were told that the gossip was not based on evidence beyond what they had seen. Furthermore, the third party's reputation did not affect the impact of his gossip. Old view: Gossip evolved to help society by spreading the truth about people, thereby punishing cheaters. New problem: If gossip overrides truth, cheaters can evade punishment by spreading lies. New rationalizations: 1) In evolutionary history, gossip has been more commonly attainable than direct observation and has been available from multiple sources, so it tends to be more useful. 2) Evolution didn't train us to consider gossipers' reputations because that that much detail is "too demanding for the working memory." Question: Is this why negative political ads work? Human Nature's answer: Yes.
Oh, and have you heard the Atrios and Instapundit are in league with OBL? Pass it on...
[HT: S. rex]
posted by Winston Smith at
10:55 AM
1 Comments:
I read an article many moons ago stating that the mazimum number for a primate group to be bound together by mutual grooming was only 150 individuals, and the authors speculated that gossip evolved in part because a much greater group could be formed when it was held together with gossip.
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