by Hugo Mercier
ary 30, 2006, https:// www .scotsman .com / news / uk - news / the - royal - family - are
- bloodsucking - alien - lizards - david - icke - 1 - 1103954.
12. Bod Drogin and Tom Hamburger, “Niger uranium rumors wouldn’t die,” Los
Angeles Times, February 17, 2006, http:// articles .latimes .com / 2006 / feb / 17 / nation / na
- niger17.
13. Drogin and Hamburger, “Niger uranium rumors wouldn’t die.”
14. As a first approximation, in fact things are more complicated, as vetting of
sources can add some in de pen dence: if many people agree a given source is reliable,
it might be a good sign that it is indeed reliable (Estlund, 1994).
15. Dalai Lama (@DalaiLama), “ Because of the great differences in our ways of
thinking, it is inevitable that we have diff er ent religions and faiths. Each has its own
beauty. And it is much better that we live together on the basis of mutual re spect and
mutual admiration,” Twitter, February 26, 2018, 2:30 a.m., https:// twitter .com
/ DalaiLama / status / 968070699708379143 ? s = 03).
16. I owe all of my information about the Duna to personal communications with
her; see San Roque & Loughnane, 2012.
17. Rumsey & Niles, 2011.
18. See Boyer, 2001.
19. Baumard & Boyer, 2013b; Sperber, 1997.
20. Schieffelin, 1995.
21. In fact, the prob lem was pre sent from the start. As the example of religious be-
liefs illustrates, even relatively simple cultures have chains that are difficult to trace.
22. Gloria Origgi, “Say goodbye to the information age: It’s all about reputation
now,” Aeon, March 14, 2018, https:// aeon .co / ideas / say - goodbye - to - the - information
- age - its - all - about - reputation - now. See also Origgi, 2017.
23. E.g., Altay & Mercier, submitted; Mercier, Majima, Claidière, & Léone,
submitted.
n o t e s t o c h a p t e r 12 295
CHAPTER 12
1. Paul Wright “An innocent man speaks: PLN interviews Jeff Deskovic,” Prison
Legal News, August 15, 2013, https:// www .prisonlegalnews .org / news / 2013 / aug / 15 / an
- innocent - man - speaks - pln - interviews - jeff - deskovic / .
2. This section benefited from the review of Kassin & Gudjonsson, 2004.
3. Gudjonsson, Fridrik Sigurdsson, & Einarsson, 2004; Gudjonsson, Sigurdsson,
Bragason, Einarsson, & Valdimarsdottir, 2004.
4. Gudjonsson & Sigurdsson, 1994; Sigurdsson & Gudjonsson, 1996.
5. “False confessions and recording of custodial interrogations,” The Innocence
Proj ect, https:// www .innocenceproject .org / causes / false - confessions - admissions/
(accessed April 4, 2018).
6. Kassin & Neumann, 1997.
7. Drizin & Leo, 2003.
8. Quoted in Kassin & Gudjonsson, 2004, p. 36.
9. Gudjonsson, Sigurdsson, et al., 2004.
10. Radelet, Bedau, & Putnam, 1994.
11. Kassin & Gudjonsson, 2004, p. 50.
12. Jonathan Bandler, “Deskovic was ‘in fear for my life’ when he confessed,” Lohud,
October 21, 2014, https:// www .lohud .com / story / news / local / 2014 / 10 / 21 / jeffrey
- deskovic - wrongful - conviction - putnam - county - daniel - stephens / 17680707 / .
13. See Kassin & Gudjonsson, 2004.
14. Kassin, Meissner, & Norwick, 2005. Interrogators are also routinely taught to
rely on cues known to be completely useless, such as gaze aversion; see chapter 9.
15. Kassin & Wrightsman, 1980.
16. Indeed, in adversarial systems, the prosecution is under no obligation to stress
the existence of such pressures.
17. Kassin & Wrightsman, 1980.
18. Futaba & McCormack, 1984.
19. Parker & Jaudel, 1989. The situation is arguably worse in China; see, e.g., “ ‘My
hair turned white’: Report lifts lid on China’s forced confessions,” Guardian, April 12,
2018, https:// www .theguardian .com / world / 2018 / apr / 12 / china - forced - confessions
- report.
20. Gross, 2018, p. 21.
21. Gross, 2018, p. 22.
22. Evans- Pritchard, 1937, pp. 22–23.
23. Alternatively, Aleksander might feel shame if enough people think he is guilty,
whether he is guilty or not, and this shame might make a confession more tempting,
even rational, as what matters for shame isn’t really what we have done, but what people
296 no t es t o ch ap t er 12
believe we have done (T. E. Robertson, Sznycer, Delton, Tooby, & Cosmides, 2018;
Sznycer, Schniter, Tooby, & Cosmides, 2015; Sznycer et al., 2018). Whether or not we
are guilty, the confession should help us redeem ourselves in the eyes of the people
who believe we are guilty.
24. It is also pos si ble (even more likely) that beliefs in super natural evil acts are
initially attributed to imaginary agents (such as ancestors), which is easier to suggest
than (live) human agents, and then these acts become more conceivable as something
real agents could confess to.
25. Hutton, 2017, p. 59.
26. Ward, 1956.
27. Ardener, 1970.
28. Burridge, 1972.
29. Hutton, 2017, p. 37.
30. Wil is, 1970, p. 130; see also R. Brain, 1970.
31. T. E. Robertson et al., 2018; Sznycer et al., 2015.
32. Lévi- Strauss, 1967.
33. Macfarlane, 1970, p. 91.
34. Morton- Wil iams, 1956, p. 322.
35. Evans- Pritchard, 1937, p. 48.
36. Miguel, 2005.
37. Julian Ryall, “The incredible Kim Jong-il and his amazing achievements,” Tele-
graph, January 31 2011, https:// www . telegraph .co .uk / news / worldnews / asia
/ northkorea / 8292848 / The - Incredible - Kim - Jong - il - and - his - Amazing - Achievements
. html.
38. All quotes cited in Hassig & Oh, 2009, p. 57.
39. In addition to the references above, see AFP, “N. Korea leader sets world fash-
ion trend: Pyongyang,” France 24, April 7, 2010, https:// web .archive .org / web
/ 20111219011527 / http:// www .france24 .com / en / 20100407 - nkorea - leader - sets - world
- fashion - trend - pyongyang.
40. Wedeen, 2015; Sebestyen, 2009; Harding, 1993; Karsh & Rautsi, 2007. This list
is largely owed to Márquez, 2018; and Svolik, 2012, p. 80. Kim Jong-un, Kim Jong- il’s
son and successor, seems intent on topping his father in terms of absurd praise; see
Fifield, 2019.
41. Hassig & Oh, 2009.
42. Márquez, 2018.
43. Leese, 2011, p. 168, found in Márquez, 2018.
44. Technically, these groups are referred to as co ali tions; see Tooby, Cosmides, &
Price, 2006.
45. E.g., Delton & Cimino, 2010.
46. Personal communication, July 4, 2016; see also Kurzban & Christner, 2011.
n o t e s t o c h a p t e r 13 297
47. Jerry Coyne, “The University of Edinburgh and the John Templeton Founda-
tion royally screw up evolution and science (and tell arrant lies) in an online course,”
Why Evolution is True, https:// whyevolutionistrue .wordpress .com / 2018 / 03 / 25 / the
- university - of - edinburgh - and - the - john - templeton - foundation - royally - screw - up
- evolution - and - science - and - tel - arrant - lies - in - an - online - course/ (accessed April 12, 2018).
48. Jerry Coyne, “A postmodern holiday: Recent nonsense from the humanities,”
Wh
y Evolution is True, https:// whyevolutionistrue .wordpress .com / 2017 / 01 / 10 / a
- postmodern - holiday - recent - nonsense - from - the - humanities/ (accessed April 12, 2018). For examples on the other side of the intellectual spectrum, see Alice Dreger,
“Why I escaped the ‘Intellectual Dark Web,’ ” Chronicle of Higher Education, May 11,
2018, https:// www .chronicle .com / article / Why - I - Escaped - the / 243399.
49. Tibor Machan, “Tax slavery,” Mises Institute, March 13, 2000, https:// mises
. org / library / tax - slavery; and Rothbard, 2003, p. 100.
50. Fresco, 1980.
51. Cahal Milmo, “Isis video: ‘New Jihadi John’ suspect Siddhartha Dhar is a ‘former
bouncy castle salesman from east London,’ ” In de pen dent, January 4, 2016, https:// www
. independent .co .uk / news / uk / home - news / isis - video - new - jihadi - john - suspect - is - a
- former - bouncy - castle - salesman - from - east - london - a6796591 .html (found in Roy, 2016).
52. Márquez, 2018, inspired by Winterling, 2011.
53. On the incremental nature of burning bridges beliefs, see, e.g., Josiah Hesse,
“Flat Earthers keep the faith at Denver conference,” Guardian, November 18, 2018,
https:// www .theguardian .com / us - news / 2018 / nov / 18 / flat - earthers - keep - the - faith - at
- denver - conference (on flat- earthers) or Ben Sixsmith, “The curious case of Ron Unz,”
Spectator USA, September 15, 2018, https:// spectator .us / ron - unz/ (on negationists).
54. Gudjonsson, 2003.
CHAPTER 13
1. A lively history of the humoral theory can be found in Arika, 2007.
2. Wootton, 2006, p. 37.
3. P. Brain, 1986, pp. 26–27, 33.
4. For an early example of blood libel, see Hugo Mercier, “Blatant bias and blood
libel,” International Cognition and Culture Institute, January 28, 2019, http://
cognitionandculture .net / blog / hugo - merciers - blog / blatant - bias - and - blood - libel / .
5. See, e.g., Horo witz, 2001, pp. 75ff.
6. Alison Flood, “Fake news is ‘very real’ word of the year for 2017,” Guardian, No-
vember 2, 2017, https:// www .theguardian .com / books / 2017 / nov / 02 / fake - news - is
- very - real - word - of - the - year - for - 2017.
298 no t es t o ch ap t er 13
7. Andrew Grice, “Fake news handed Brexiteers the referendum— and now they
have no idea what they’re doing,” In de pen dent, January 18, 2017, https:// www
. independent .co .uk / voices / michael - gove - boris - johnson - brexit - eurosceptic - press
- theresa - may - a7533806 .html; Aaron Blake, “A new study suggests fake news might have won Donald Trump the 2016 election,” Washington Post, April 3, 2018 https:// www
. washingtonpost .com / news / the - fix / wp / 2018 / 04 / 03 / a - new - study - suggests - fake
- news - might - have - won - donald - trump - the - 2016 - election / .
8. Larson, 2018.
9. See, e.g., John Lichfield, “Boris Johnson’s £350m claim is devious and bogus. Here’s
why,” Guardian, September 18, 2017, https:// www .theguardian .com / commentisfree
/ 2017 / sep / 18 / boris - johnson - 350 - mil ion - claim - bogus - foreign - secretary.
10. See, e.g., Robert Darnton, “The true history of fake news,” New York Review of
Books, February 13, 2017, http:// www .nybooks .com / daily / 2017 / 02 / 13 / the - true
- history - of - fake - news / .
11. Craig Silverman, “This analy sis shows how viral fake election news stories out-
performed real news on Facebook,” BuzzFeed, November 16, 2016, https:// www
. buzzfeed .com / craigsilverman / viral - fake - election - news - outperformed - real - news
- on - facebook.
12. E.g., Del Vicario, Scala, Caldarel i, Stanley, & Quattrociocchi, 2017; Zollo et al.,
2017.
13. The citation is from a translation of Normal Lewis Torrey (1961, p. 278). The
French is “Certainement qui est en droit de vous rendre absurde est en droit de vous
rendre injuste.” See Voltaire, Œuvres complètes, available at https:// fr .wikisource .org
/ wiki / Page:Voltaire _ - _ %C5%92uvres _ compl%C3%A8tes _ Garnier _ tome25 .djvu
/ 422 (accessed May 22, 2019).
14. Wootton, 2006.
15. The anthropological references were located thanks to the Human Relations
Area Files (HRAF). See Epler, 1980; Miton, Claidière, & Mercier, 2015; Murdock, Wil-
son, & Frederick, 1978.
16. Miton et al., 2015.
17. Horo witz, 2001.
18. Zipperstein, 2018, p. 89.
19. Zipperstein, 2018, p. 94.
20. Shibutani, 1966, p. 113, approving of; R. H. Turner, 1964; see also Horo witz, 2001,
p. 86.
21. Guess, Nyhan, & Reifler, 2018.
22. Fourney, Racz, Ranade, Mobius, & Horvitz, 2017.
23. Benedict Carey, “ ‘Fake news’: Wide reach but little impact, study suggests,” New
York Times, January 2, 2018, https:// www .nytimes .com / 2018 / 01 / 02 / health / fake - news
- conservative - liberal .html, and Guess et al., 2018.
n o t e s t o c h a p t e r 13 299
24. See, e.g., Druckman, Levendusky, & McLain, 2018. On the fact that internet
use does not explain Republican votes, see also Boxel , Gentzkow, & Shapiro, 2018.
25. Nyhan et al., 2017. For a similar effect in another domain, see Hopkins et al.,
2019.
26. J. W. Kim & Kim, in press; see also Benkler, Faris, & Roberts, 2018.
27. Malle, Knobe, & Nelson, 2007, study 3.
28. Lloyd & Sivin, 2002.
29. P. Brain, 1986.
30. See also Vargo, Guo, & Amazeen, 2018.
31. Craig Silverman, “ Here are 50 of the biggest fake news hits on Facebook from
2016,” BuzzFeed, December 16, 2016, https:// www .buzzfeed .com / craigsilverman / top
- fake - news - of - 2016, data available at: https:// docs .google .com / spreadsheets / d
/ 1sTkRkHLvZp9XlJOynYMXGslKY9fuB _ e - 2mrxqgLwvZY / edit#gid = 652144590
(accessed April 24, 2018).
32. Craig Silverman, Jane Lytvynenko, & Scott Pham, “ These are 50 of the biggest
fake news hits on facebook in 2017,” BuzzFeed, December 28, 2017, https:// www
. buzzfeed .com / craigsilverman / these - are - 50 - of - the - biggest - fake - news - hits - on
- facebook - in.
33. Allcott & Gentzkow, 2017; Guess, Nagler, & Tucker, 2019.
34. Grinberg, Joseph, Friedland, Swire- Thompson, & Lazer, 2019; Guess et al., 2019.
35. See the Buzzfeed articles referenced in notes 31 and 32.
36. Acerbi, 2019. On the lack of partisanship effects, see Pennycook & Rand, 2018.
Another potential explanation for the sharing of fake news is a “need for chaos”: it
seems some people share fake news left and right, reflecting a more general contesta-
tion of the existing system (Petersen, Osmundsen, & Arceneaux, 2018).
37. Sadler & Tesser, 1973.
38. For a review, see Tesser, 1978.
39. Myers & Bach, 1974.
40. Isenberg, 1986; Vinokur, 1971.
41. See earlier in the chapter on echo chambers, as well as, for journalistic refer-
ences, Mostafa El- Bermawy, “Your filter bubble is destroying democracy,” Wired, No-
vember 18, 2016, https:// www . wired .com / 2016 / 11 / filter - bubble - destroying
- democracy / ; Christopher Hooton, “Social media echo chambers gifted Donald Trump the presidency,” In de pen dent, November 10, 2016, https:// www .independent
. co . uk / voices / donald - trump - president - social - media - echo - chamber
- hypernormalisation - adam - curtis - protests - blame - a7409481 .html.
42. Sunstein, 2018.
43. E.g., Jonathan Haidt, & Sam Abrams, “The top 10 reasons American politics
are so broken,” Washington Post, January 7, 2015, https:// www .washingtonpost .com / news
/ wonk / wp / 2015 / 01 / 07 / the - top - 10 - reasons - american - politics - are - worse - than - ever.
300 no t es t o ch ap t er 13
44. El- Bermawy, “Your filter bubble is destroying democracy.”
45. Fiorina, Abrams, & Pope, 2005; see also Desmet & Wacziarg, 2018; Jeffrey Jones,
“Americans’ identification as in de pen dents back up in 2017,” Gallup, January 8, 2018,
http:// news .gallup .com / pol / 225056 / americans - identification - independents - back
- 2017 .aspx.
46. See the data from the GSS Data Explorer available at https:// gssdataexplorer
. norc .org / trends / Politics ? measure = polviews _ r (accessed April 25, 2018).
47. “Po liti cal polarization in the American public,” Pew Research Center, June 12,
2014, http:// www .people - press .org / 2014 / 06 / 12 / political - polarization - in - the
- american - public / .
48. “Po liti cal polarization in the American public.”
49. Shore, Baek, & Del arocas, 2018.
50. “Po liti cal polarization in the American public.”
51. It might also partly be the outcome of a sampling bias; see Cavari & Freedman,
2018.
52. Jason Jordan, “Americans are getting smarter about politics in at least one impor-
tant way,” Washington Post, February 7, 2018, https:// www .washingtonpost .com
/ news / monkey - cage / wp / 2018 / 02 / 07 / americans - are - getting - smarter - about
- politics - in - at - least - one - important - way / ? utm _ term = . 89ff43081c86.
53. See Iyengar, Lelkes, Levendusky, Malhotra, & Westwood, 2019. On the rela-
tionship between sorting and affective polarization, see Webster & Abramowitz, 2017.
Stil , even affective polarization might not be as problematic as some fear; see Klar,
Krupnikov, & Ryan, 2018; Tappin & McKay, 2019; Westwood, Peterson, & Lelkes, 2018.
54. Elizabeth Dubois & Grant Blank, “The myth of the echo chamber,” The Con-
versation, March 8, 2018, https:// theconversation .com / the - myth - of - the - echo
- chamber - 92544.
