by Hugo Mercier
Galton, Francis, 71
Haig, David, 21
Gardner, Howard, 68
Handbook of the Law of Evidence
gazelles. See Thomson’s gazelles
(McCormick), 182
Gelman, Andrew, 140, 246
Hatfield, Elaine, 98
Gendelman, Max, 86
Henrich, Joe: on cultural learning and
gene- culture coevolution, 13; Boyd and
success, 11; on prestige bias, 12; on
Richerson on, 10
success bias, 11–12
Gentzkow, Matthew, 212–13
Hepach, Robert, 104
German soldiers studies, and Nazi
Heraclitus: on credulity, 8–9; on crowd
propaganda, 130–31
psy chol ogy, 34
Germinal (Zola), 262–63
hidden dependencies: open vigilance
Gervais, Wil , 37–38
mechanisms and, 174; religious
Gilbert, Daniel: credulity experiments
beliefs and, 176; sourcing and, 172–75
on, 36–37, 43–44; on gullibility, 8
historical evidence, 56–57
Gil- White, Francisco: on prestige bias,
History of the Peloponnesian War
12; on success bias, 11–12
(Thucydides), 167
Gneezy, Uri, 254
Hitler, Adolf, 34; as demagogue, 116–21;
God: Barrett on canonical features of,
as propagandist, 128; Selb and
223; omniscience of, 217, 223, 230,
Munzert on, 116
302n34; religious concept of, 220
Hitler Myth, The (Kershaw), 116
Gödel, Kurt, 56
Ho Chi Minh, 191
ind e x 357
humoral theory of disease, 202–4,
intel igence, 68, 195
214–15; Galen support of, 199–200
interlocutors: opinion of, 283n31;
Hussein, Saddam, 48–49, 173, 190
sourcing and, 166, 170–71
interrogators, confessions and, 184,
Iannaccone, Laurence, 124
295n14
Icke, David, 172
intuition, xvii, 277n22; beliefs and,
ideological polarization, 212–13
58–62, 152; children display of,
illusion of una nim ity, 112
68–69; counterintuitiveness and
imitation, reliable expertise and, 66–67
thinking in, 222–23; soundness of, 54
immigration, Trump on, 268
intuitive beliefs, 152, 261; misconcep-
incentives, 282n26; alignment of, 84–85,
tions of, 260; religious beliefs and, 178
86, 88, 92, 282n24, 283n29; children intuitive physics, 223–24, 224
and, 86–87; Gendelman and
Iraq War: backfire effect and, 48–49;
Kirschner example, 86; reputation
Bush justification for, 172–74
monitoring, 88; Reyes- Jaquez and
Echols experiment on, 86–87;
Japan: confessions in, 185; kamikaze,
Sniezek study on, 85–86; social
conformity bias of, 12
alignment of, 89; trust and, 84–87
Johnson, Martin, 137
inclusive fitness, 19, 20
Jones, Alex: conspiracy theories of, 4,
individuals: cultural learning from
228; Welch influenced by, 4
successful, 11; signals for affiliation of,
Jordan, Michael, 142
241; stock in majority opinion, 70–71
justifications, 237; for alternative
inefficiency, of campaigners, 139–40
treatments, 206–7, 214; for beliefs,
inferences, 59, 170
214; competition and, 207; for death
influence: cascade of, 285n56; difficulty
penalty, 210; fake news and, 206–8;
of, xvi; power of, 15
of Iraq War, by Bush, 172–74; for
information: Boyer and Parren on,
negative judgments, 206; polariza-
226–27; gains, trust and, 252–54; re-
tion and, 208–9; reputation credit
jection, 93; relevance of, 159–60; social
and, 227–29
cost of inaccurate, 246; social rel-
evance of, 159–60; spread of, 160, 161
Kahneman, Daniel, 35–36, 37
informational access: experiments on,
Kalla, Joshua, 138, 140
64, 65; eyewitness advantage and,
Kaluli language, evidentials of, 178–79
64; Robinson on, 64
Kassin, Saul, 184
informational environment, open
Kay, Jonathan, 153
vigilance mechanisms and, xvii
Kershaw, Ian, 116, 118; on Nazi
InfoWars website, 228
propaganda, 129–30, 131, 259
Innocent III (pope), Children’s
Kierkegaard, Søren, 70
Crusade influenced by, 3
Kim, Eunji, 205
insight prob lems, 51
Kim, Jin Woo, 205
358 inde x
Kim, Young Oon, 123
Lie to Me tele vi sion show, 79
Kim Jong-il, xiv, xviii, 190–91, 195; logical prob lems, arguments and, 51–52
extreme flattery and, 193, 296n40
Long, Huey, 116
Kim Jong-un, 190, 296n40
Luther, Martin, 58
kin se lection, alarm calls and, 22
lying, trust and, 81–82
King, Gary, 140, 246
Lysenko, Trofim, 266
Kirschner, Karl, 86
Kishinev accusations, rumors on, 200,
Madden, Joah, 27
204, 215
majority opinion, xiv; assembly
Klapper, Joseph, 136
example, 70–71, 72, 73; of baboons,
knowledge, best: competence and,
71–72; Dockendorff, Schwartzberg,
76–77; eyewitness advantage, 64–65;
Mercier on, 71; evolutionarily valid
majority pull and, 74–76; past
cues and, 73, 74; Galton on
per for mance, 67–69; rationality,
aggregation and, 71; individuals
70–74; reliable expertise, 65–67
stock in, 70–71; Kierkegaard on, 70;
Koji, Aoki, 110
Morgan experiment on, 72–73;
Korean War, POWs brainwashing in,
Munroe xkcd “Bridge” comic strip
32–33, 42–43
on, 71, 72; re sis tance to, 74–76;
Twain on, 70
Lacan, Jacques, 218, 238, 239; charismatic maladaptive cultural practices, xiv, 13
authority of, 225; guru effect and,
mandatory cognitive mechanisms, 100,
234–36; obscurity of, 234–36;
101–2, 105
teachings of, 219
Mao Zedong, 266–67
Laland, Kevin, 11
Maps of Meaning (Peterson), 238
language: and evidentials, 168–69; and
Márquez, Xavier, 133; on flattery
Kaluli evidentials, 178–79; Wanka
inflation, 195
Quechua, on sourcing, 168–69
Marx, Karl, 13, 124
Lanzetta, John, 97, 105
mass conversions, from preachers, 122
Latour, Bruno, 219
mass persuasion, xviii, 14, 259; Catholic
leaders, charismatic, xiv, 225–26
Church and, 144; patterns of, 143;
learning: cultural, 11; open vigilance
plausibility checking and, 113–14;
mechanisms for, 258–59; transfer
re sis tance and, 144
effects in, 280n11
mass psychogen
ic illness, 106–8
Le Bon, Gustave, 34, 96
McCain, John, 205
Le Roy Ladurie, Emmanuel, 125
McCarthy, Jenny, 60
Levine, Tim, 82
McCarthyism, 32
Lévi- Strauss, Claude, 225, 236
McCloskey, Michael, 223
liars, 282n17; detection of, 78; Levine
McCormick, Charles, 182
on, 82; nonverbal cues of, 78–79;
media: campaigners influence and,
Reid on, 82
136–37, 140; Gelman and King on
ind e x 359
politics influenced by, 246; mass,
negligence, 83–84
160. See also fake news; social media
New Religious Movements, 121, 122;
Mein Kampf (Hitler), 128
Anthony on, 123–24
membership costs, in groups, 191–92
9/11 terrorist attacks: rational crowds
Meno (Plato), 53
and, 111–12; reflective beliefs on, 260;
Mercier, Hugo, 71, 73
rumors of, 165
microexpressions, trust and: Ekman
Nongqawuse, Xhosa influenced by,
on, 79–80; Porter, and ten Brinke
2–4, 118
on, 80–81
nonverbal cues: Freud on, 78; for liars,
Milgram, Stanley, 6–8, 75, 232–33
78–79
millenarian movements: Christian,
Norenzayan, Ara, 37–38
120–21; prophets and, 119–20; Weber
Nyhan, Brendan, 48–49, 205
on, 120
Miller, Arthur, 185
Obama, Barack, 146, 205–6
minimal plausibility, rumors and,
omniscient God, religious beliefs of,
160–62
217, 223, 230, 302n34
misperception, of partisanship and
omnivorous diets evolution analogy,
polarization, 244
39–42
Mitnick, Kevin, 249–50
open vigilance mechanisms, xv,
Miton, Helena, 74
292n20; arms race analogy for, 31–32,
Moonies, 121, 123; Barker on, 122
38, 41, 46; burning bridges and,
moral contagion, 96
191–98; children and, 248; confes-
Moreau, Sabine, 63, 64
sions and, 182–90, 295n23; cues for,
Morgan, Thomas, 72–73
18–19, 73–74, 78–79, 161, 240–41,
Morin, Edgard, 167
247–50, 255; current informational
Mormonism, 121, 122
environment and, xvii; hidden
Moscovici, Serge, 5–6
dependencies and, 174; information
movements: Cattle- Kil ing, 118–19;
rejection and, 93; for learning,
millenarian, 119–21; New Religious
258–59; mass persuasion and,
Movements, 121–24; in public
xviii, 14, 113–14, 133, 143–44, 259;
opinion, 268; Truth, 153
motivations for, xviii; open-
MSNBC, liberal Demo crats and,
mindedness and, 30–46, 54, 58, 63;
242–43
plausibility checking in, 47–48,
Munroe, Randall, 71
50–55, 113–14, 221; psychological
Munzert, Simon, 116
experiments on, 144–45; reasoning
Mussolini, Benito, 34
and, 52–54, 58, 98–101; sourcing and,
166–75, 238n38
natu ral se lection, 28; evolution by, 19
open- mindedness, 30–31, 63; cognitive
Nazi propaganda, 143–44; Kershaw on
sophistication and, 38–42; reasoning
effectiveness of, 129–30, 131, 259
and, 54, 58
360 inde x
opinion: advertisers and preconceived,
208–11; Gentzkow and Shapiro on
141; beliefs and contrary, 48–50;
ideological, 212–13; justifications and,
convergence of, 174; demagogues’
208–9; misperception of, 244; po liti-
reliance of existing, 114–18; of
cal, 210, 213; social media and, 210–11
interlocutors, 283n31. See also
polarization, U.S., 214; Fiorina on, 211;
majority opinion; public opinion
impression of increased, 212; in
Origgi, Gloria, 179
politics, 211; social media users and,
Osborne, Sarah, 185–86
212–13, 244
Osnos, Evan, 132
politics: advertisers and campaigns in,
overconfidence: reputation and, 91–93;
141; crowd psy chol ogy and, 34; fake
trust and, 90–92, 283n37
news in, 207–8; Gelman and King
on media influence on, 246;
panic, in crowds, 111–12
polarization in, 210, 213; public
pareidolia, 157
opinion and, 267–68; trust and, 94;
Parren, Nora, 226–27
U.S. polarization in, 211
partisanship: of cable news networks,
Porter, Ethan, 49
242; misperception of, 244
Porter, Stephen, 80–81
Passions within Reason (Frank), 99
Postman, Leo, 147
past per for mance: best knowledge and,
Poulin- Dubois, Diane, 103–4
67–69; evaluation of, 66; reliable
Pound, John, 149
expertise and, 65–66; reputation
Powel , Colin, 173
credit and, 226
preachers: Catholic Church and,
pathogens: Canetti on, 97; contagion
124–25, 127; crusades and, 2, 3, 126;
analogy and, 97, 106–7
Eusebius on, 122; mass conversions
Peires, Jeff, 118
and, 122; Mormonism and, 121, 122;
Peloponnesian War, 1
New Religious Movements, 121, 122,
per for mance: examples of, 69;
123–24
observations of, 68; from observed
predator- deterrent signals, 23–24
to competence, 68; past, 65–69, 226
preexisting beliefs, 47–48
persuasion: false confessions and, 182.
pregnancy, 17, 20, 21, 28
See also mass persuasion
prestige bias, 13; celebrity suicide and, 12;
Peterson, Jordan, 238
Henrich and Gil- White on, 12
Planck, Max, 56
prisoners of war (POWs), 32–33, 42–43
Plato, on democracy, 3
propagandists, 264–65; China Cultural
plausibility checking, 47–48, 221;
Revolution, 132–34, 289n37; failures
argumentation beyond, 50–55;
of, 133; Goebbels, 128, 129; Hitler as,
insight prob lems and, 51; mass
128; Soviet, 131–32; threats and, 134
persuasion and, 113–14
prophets, 117, 121; millenarian
polarization: on death penalty, 210; in
movements of, 119–20; Xhosa and
discussion groups, 209; fake news and,
Nongqawuse as, 2–4, 118–19
ind e x 361
Psy chol ogy of Rumor, The (Allport and
religious concepts: counterintuitive-
Postman), 147
ness and, 220, 222–23; of God, 220
public opinion: movements in, 268;
religious people, trust in, 247
politics and, 267–68; thermostatic
#Republic: Divided Democracy in the Age
model of, 268
of Social Media (Sunstein), 210
punishment, fo
r unreliable messages, 88
Republicans, Fox News Channel and
Putin, Vladimir, 265, 305n18; Trump
conservative, 242–43, 245–46
and, 267
reputation: incentives and monitoring
of, 88; overconfidence and, 91–93;
Rapson, Richard, 98
trust and, 87–90
rational crowds: Koji on, 110; Bataclan
reputation credit, 230, 237; justifica-
attacks and, 111–12; England peasant
tions and, 227–29; past per for mance
revolt and, 109–10; in French Revo-
and, 226; threats in, 226–27, 228;
lution, 108–9; illusion of una nim ity
valuable information and, 226
and, 112; 9/11 terrorist attacks and,
Reyes- Jaquez, Bolivar, 86–87
111–12; panic and, 111–12; Red Guards Rice, Condoleezza, 173
spontaneous mobs, 110; Shays’
Richerson, Peter, 10, 275n32; on
Rebel ion, 110; soldiers and, 112
celebrity advertising, 142; on
reasoning: in arguments, 52–53; open-
cultural learning and success, 11
mindedness, 54, 58; vigilance and, 54
rituals, 10
reflective beliefs, 152; burning bridges
Roberts, Margaret, 133
strategy and, 196; counterintuitive-
Robinson, Elizabeth, 64
ness and, 261; of Duna, 178; on 9/11
Romans, Humbert de, 125–27
terrorist attacks, 260; Origgi on, 179;
Rothbard, Murray, 194
religious beliefs and, 178; in
Rudé, George, 108–9
witchcraft, 189–90
rumeur d’Orléans, 146, 148, 153–55,
Reid, Thomas, 82
161–64, 200; Morin on, 167; sources
Reifler, Jason, 48–49
and, 166, 171
reliable expertise: best knowledge and,
rumors: acting on, 165; anxiety and,
65–67; imitation and, 66–67; past
147–48; of crisis, 147–48, 158–59; per for mance and, 65–66; preschoolers
about Dao and United Airlines, 146,
on, 76
165, 292n2; on Darjeeling landslide,
religious beliefs, 288n68, 288n75;
147; escape from real ity and, 162–64;
Baumard on, 229; culture and,
exaggerated threats and, 261–62; on
294n21; of Duna, 176–77; hidden
Kishinev accusations, 200, 204, 215;
dependencies and, 176; of omni-
metarumors and, 295n40; minimal
scient God, 217, 223, 230, 302n34;
plausibility and, 160–62; of 9/11
reflective instead of intuitive, 178;
terrorist attacks, 165; about Obama,
social transmission of, 175, 177;
146, 205–6; rabies outbreak, 150–51; variety of, 217; in world religions, 230
rewarding relays of, 159–60; of
362 inde x
rumors (cont.)
Signer, Michael, 114
rumeur d’Orléans, 146, 148, 153–55,
Sinha, Durganand, 147
161–64, 166–67, 171, 200; sourcing Sniezek, Janet, 85–86
