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INDEX
Page numbers in italics refer to figures.
absurd ideas, of scientists, 217–18
analytic thinking, 45; Gervais and
Acerbi, Alberto, 208, 299n36
Norenzayan on, 37–38
action, false rumors and lack of, 153–54
animal be hav ior: of Arabian babbler,
Adaptation and Natu ral Se lection
16–17, 22, 23; of baboons, 71–72; of bees, (Wil iams), 22
17–18, 19; of bowerbird, 16, 26–27; adaptations, 22; in communication, 18
of chimpanzees, 40–41; pregnancy
adaptive credulity, 10–13; anthropolo-
and, 17; of Thomson’s gazelles, 16,
gists on, 9
24–25, 28, 101; of vervet monkey,
adversarial relationships, communication
18–19, 20, 40, 275n11
and, 22–23
Anthony, Dick, 123–24
advertisers, xviii; celebrities and, 142–43; anti- Semitic propaganda, 128–29
cost of, 141; negligible effects from,
anxiety, rumors and, 147–48
141–42; po liti cal campaigns and, 141;
Arabian babbler, 16–17; alarm calls of,
preconceived opinions and, 141;
22, 23
tele vi sion cigarette, 142; Tel is on, 143
Arceneaux, Kevin, 137
Against Democracy (Brennan), 264
Arendt, Hannah, 232
aggregation: majority opinion and, 71;
argumentation: common ground and,
Munroe xkcd “Bridge” comic strip
62; counterintuitiveness and, 221–22;
on, 71, 72; Surowiecki on, 71
beyond plausibility checking, 50–55;
alarm calls, 21; of Arabian babbler, 22,
small group discussion and, 113
23; kin se lection and, 22
arguments: chal enging, 55–58; confi dence
alignment, of incentives, 84–85, 86, 88,
in, 55; logical prob lems and, 51–52;
92, 282n24, 283n29
reasoning in, 52–53; strength of, 56
Allcott, Hunt, 213
arms race analogy, for open vigilance
Allport, Gordon, 147
mechanisms, 31–32, 38, 41, 46
351
352 inde x
Art of Deception, The (Mitnick), 249–50
Boyer, Pascal, 220; on information,
Asch, Solomon, 5–6, 6, 74–75
226–27
automatic cognitive mechanisms, 100,
brainwashing, xviii; Gallery on, 33;
101–2, 105
McCarthyism, 32; open- mindedness
and, 32–38, 42–46; of POWs, 32–33,
baboons, majority opinion and, 71–72
42–43
backfire effect, 278n3; of Bush and Iraq
Brennan, Jason, 8, 264
War, 48–49; Nyhan and Reifler on,
Brexit, 35; fake news and, 200–201,
48–49; vaccination opponents and,
298n7
49; Wood and Porter, E., on, 49
Broockman, David, 138, 140
Bad Medicine (Wootton), 202
Bryan, Wil iam Jennings, 116
Bad Writing Contest, 218
Burgess, Thomas, 99
Barker, Eileen, 122–23
burning- bridges strategy, 192, 194;
Barrett, Justin, 222–23
extreme beliefs defense in, 196–97;
Bataclan attacks, 111–12
extreme flattery and, 191, 193;
Baumard, Nicolas, 229
extreme views and, 195; intel igence
bees, animal be hav ior of, 17–18, 19
or moral standing and, 195; reflective
beliefs: argumentation and plausibility
beliefs and, 196; self- incriminating
checking, 50–55; causal effects, 214–16;
statements in, 197–98
challenging arguments and, 55–58;
Burns, Justine, 254–55
contrary opinions and, 48–50; costly Bush, George W., 212; backfire effect actions and, 261; false rumors and,
and, 48–49; Iraq War justification
151–55; intuition and, 58–62, 152;
by, 172–74; 2000 presidential
intuitive, 152, 178, 260, 261; justifica-
election, 137–38
tions for, 214; misconceptions and,
Butler, Judith, 218
260; preexisting, 47–48; reflective,
152, 178–79, 189–90, 196, 260–61; cable news networks, taking sides
self- incriminating statements and,
strategy of, 242–43
197–98; social transmission of
Cacioppo, John, 98
religious, 175, 177; Sperber on, 152
Cambridge Analytica, 139
believers, 175–78
campaigners, 134, 141, 290n53; ambigu-
bias: frequency- based, 275n36; prestige,
ous results of, 135–36; Arceneaux
12–13; success, 11–13
and Johnson on, 137; Cambridge
blind trust, 2–5
Analytica and, 139; effectiveness
bloodletting practice: culture and, 203;
experiments, 138; Gelman and King
Galen on, 199–200, 201, 207, 228–29
on, 140; inefficiency of, 139–40;
Bordia, Prashant, 149
Kalla and Broockman on, 138, 140;
bowerbird, 16; costly signaling of, 26–27
Klapper on, 136; lab- based techniques
Boyd, Robert, 10, 275n32; on celebrity
and, 136–37; media influence, 136–37,
advertising, 142; on cultural learning
140; 2000 presidential election and,
and success, 11
137–38; in U. S. politics, 135
ind e x 353
Canetti, Elias, 97
cognitive sophistication: credulity and,
Caplow, Theodore, 149, 150
35; gullibility association with, 38;
cascade, of influence, 285n56
open- mindedness and, 38–42
Catholic Church: Children’s Crusade
commitment signals, 89; epistemic
and, 2; Enlightenment and, 264;
modals for, 90; Tenney on, 90–91
mass persuasion and, 144; preachers
communication: adaptations in, 18;
and, 124–25, 127
adversarial relationships and, 22–23;
celebrities: advertisers and, 143; Boyd and
animal be hav ior and, 16–18; conflicts
Richerson on advertising and, 142;
and evolution of, 18–20; cues in,
prestige bias and suicide of, 12;
18–19; diligence in, 92; emotional
relevant cultural products and,
signals in, 104–5; failures in, 20–22;
156–57
omnivorous diets evo
lution
challenging arguments, 55–58
analogy, 39–42; signals in, 18, 25–28;
charismatic authority, xiv; counterintu-
success in, 22–25; vigilance in,
itiveness and, 225–26; of Lacan, 225
15–29
Chiarel a, Sabrina, 103–4
Communist Party, Chinese, 133
children: culture continuity and, 9,
Com pany of Strangers, The (Seabright),
274n27; Dawkins on gullibility of, 9;
240
gullibility of, 9, 45–46; incentives
competence: best knowledge and,
and, 86–87; intuition displayed by,
76–77; in per for mance, 68; preschool-
68–69; open vigilance mechanisms
ers on, 76; in wide audience, 113
and, 248; selective ignorance of, 103
con men: 419 Nigerian scam, 250–51; in
Children’s Crusade, 2; Pope Innocent
The Sting, 248–49; Thompson as,
III influence on, 3
249–50
chimpanzees, communication signals
Condorcet, Marquis de, 3, 71
of, 40–41
Condorcet jury theorem, 71, 73
China Cultural Revolution, 132–34,
confessions: eyewitness testimony and,
289n37
182; interrogators and, 184, 295n14;
Chopra, Deepak, 238–39, 303n59
in Japan, 185; Kassin and Wrights-
Christians: millenarian movements,
man on, 184; shame and, 295n23; of
120–21; Stark on, 122
witches, 185–90
Cleon, 114–16
conformity: Asch experiments on, 5–6,
Clinton, Bil , 2
6, 74–75; Gallup on, 75–76; Milgram Clinton, Hil ary, 2, 212, 260; fake news
experiments on, 6–8, 75, 232–33;
on, 201, 205
Moscovici on, 5–6
Clooney, George, 142–43
conformity bias, 13; cultural learning
coarse cues, for trust, 240–41, 247–50,
and, 11; Japa nese kamikaze
254, 255
and, 12
cognitive mechanisms: automatic and
Conis, Elena, 60
mandatory, 100, 101–2, 105; to find
conspiracy theories, 164, 172, 269–70;
allies, 241; gullibility and, 257
of Jones, 4, 228; as threat, 158
354 inde x
contagion analogy, 105, 108; on crowds,
crusades, 2, 3, 126
96; Espinas on, 98; in New York, 95;
cues, 161; for changing mind, 259;
pathogens and, 97, 106–7; Sighele on
coarse, for trust, 240–41, 247–50,
moral, 96; social media and, 96–97;
254, 255; in communication, 18–19;
in Tanganyika, 95–96; transmission
evolutionarily valid, 73, 74; liars
of emotions and, 106
nonverbal, 78–79
contrary opinions, beliefs and, 48–50
cultural learning: conformity bias and,
control, of facial expressions, 100,
11; success bias and, 11; from
284n26
successful individuals, 11
Correa, Angela, 181
culture: bloodletting practice and, 203;
costly actions, beliefs and, 261
children and continuity of, 9, 274n27;
costly signals: bowerbirds and, 26–27;
exhaustive cultural transmission and,
in communication, 25–26, 241–42;
9; human survival and, 10; maladap-
Zahavi on, 26
tive practices in, xiv, 13; religious
counterempathy, 105
beliefs and, 294n21
counterintuitive scientific theory,
Cunningham, Steven, 181
231–33, 237–38, 270
curiosity, about rumors, 155–59
counterintuitiveness, 218; argumentation
and, 221–22; charismatic authority,
Dalai Lama, 294n15
225–26; concepts and, 219–20; on
Dao, David, 146, 165, 292n2
inertia, 224, 224; in intuition, 222–23;
Darjeeling landslide, Sinha on rumor
intuitive thinking and, 222–23;
of, 147
reflective beliefs and, 261; religious
Darwin, Charles, 99
concepts and, 220, 222–23; scientific
Dawkins, Richard, 9
concepts and, 220–21, 223, 224;
death penalty, justifications for, 210
shallowness and, 225
deception detection, 78
credulity: adaptive, 9–13; cognitive
demagogues: of Bryan and Long, 116;
sophistication and, 35; Gilbert
Cleon, 114–16; existing opinions
experiments on, 36–37, 43–44;
relied on by, 114–18; of Hitler,
gullibility compared to, 273n4;
116–21
Heraclitus on, 8–9; observers on, 4
democracy, 210, 211, 264; Plato on, 3
crisis, rumors of, 147–48, 158–59
Demo crats, MSNBC and liberal,
Crowd in the French Revolution (Rudé),
242–43
108–9
Deskovic, Jeffrey, 181, 183
crowd psy chol ogy: Heraclitus on, 34;
Dezecache, Guil aume, 98, 102
Le Bon, Tarde and Taine on, 34, 96;
DiFonzo, Nicholas, 149
politics and, 34
Diggory, James, 150–51
crowds: contagion of feelings in, 96;
diligence, 83–84, 92, 282n20
panic in, 111–12; rational, 108–12
Dimberg, Ulf, 97–98
Crucible, The (Miller), 185
discussion groups, polarization in, 209
ind e x 355
Dockendorff, Martin, 71
extreme beliefs defense, in burning
Duna, 294n16; reflective beliefs of, 178;
bridges strategy, 196–97
religious beliefs of, 176–77; San Roque
extreme flattery, in burning bridges
on, 176
strategy, 191, 193
extreme views, in burning bridges
Echols, Catharine, 86–87
strategy, 195
economic games experiments, on trust, eyewitness advantage, 65; informa-
254–55, 304n28
tional access and, 64
Eich, Ritch, 147
Ekman, Paul, 79–80
face recognition, 156
Emotional Contagion (Hatfield, Cacioppo, facial expressions, 79, 80, 98–99;
Rapson), 98
control of, 100, 284n26
emotional signals, in communication,
failures, in communication, 20–22
104–5
fake news, 199; Acerbi on entertainment
emotional vigilance, 104; automatic
of, 208, 299n36; beliefs causal effects
and mandatory mechanisms in,
and, 214–16; of Brexit, 200–201, 298n7;
101–2, 105; children selective
on Clinton, H., 201, 205; Collins dic-
ignorance and, 103
tionary on, 200; justifications and,
Engels, Friedrich, 13, 124
206–8; polarization and, 208–11;
Englis, Basil, 97, 105
po liti cal, 207–8; sensationalism
Enigma of Reason, The (Sperber), 57
and, 215–16; in social media, 207,
Enlightenment, 3, 126, 263; Catholic
298n11, 299n32; Trump election and,
Church and, 264
200–201, 204–5, 207, 215, 298n7; U.S.
ent
ertainment, Acerbi on fake news,
polarization, 211–14
208, 299n36
false beliefs, 202, 266; from trust, 245
epistemic modals, for commitment,
false confessions, 197; coerced, 182; of
89–90
Deskovic, 181, 183; exonerations and,
epistemic vigilance, Sperber on, 31
182; persuasion and, 182; voluntary, 182
Eriksson, Kimmo, 231–32
false rumors, 148–50, 263, 269, 292n13;
Espinas, Alfred, 98
belief in, 151–55; lack of action fol ow-
Eusebius, 122
ing, 153–54; social costs of, 161–62,
Evans- Pritchard, E. E., 186
171–72; about threats, 157–58; on
evidentials: of Duna, 176–77; of Kaluli
Twitter, 158
language, 178–79; in language,
fax model of cultural transmission, 9, 10
168–69
feelings: of anger, 100; contagion of, 95–98,
evolution: of communication, 18–20;
105–8; Darwin on, 99; emotional
by natu ral se lection, 19; of omnivo-
vigilance, 101–5; expression of, 100;
rous diets analogy, 39–42
Frank on, 99–100; passion without
evolutionarily valid cues, 73, 74
reason, 98–101; pathogens and, 97,
exonerations, in false confessions, 182
106–7; rational crowds and, 108–12
356 inde x
Fershtman, Chaim, 254
Goebbels, Joseph, 128, 129, 135
Fiorina, Morris, 211
Goldman, Alvin, 238
flattery, extreme, 191, 193, 296n40
Gore, Al, 33, 212; 2000 presidential
flattery inflation, Márquez on, 195
election, 137–38
419 Nigerian scam, 250–51
groups: affiliation signals for, 241;
Fox News Channel: conservative
argumentation and small group,
Republicans and, 242–43, 245–46;
113; membership costs in, 191–92;
studies on politics effects of, 245–46
polarization in discussion, 209
Frank, Robert, 99–100
gullibility, 13–14; of children, 9, 45–46; French Revolution, 108–9
cognitive sophistication association
frequency- based bias, 275n36
with, 38; credulity compared to,
Freud, Sigmund, 78
273n4; Dawkins on children, 9;
friction and flooding, Roberts on, 133
examples of, xiii– xiv; Gilbert on, 8;
gullible about, 262–65; Trump
Galen: bloodletting practice by, 199–200,
election and, 35, 276n15
201, 207, 228–29; humoral theory of
guru effect, 238; Lacan and, 234–36;
disease support by, 199–200
obscure statements and, 234;
Gallery, Daniel, 33
Sperber on, 234
Gallup, Andrew, 75–76
