Why humans fall for lies and conspiracies

Human brains are hardwired to believe lies and conspiracy theories that have been brought about by politicians dictators and social disruptors according to a new book that analyses the power of language on peoplersquos brainsThe book Politics Lies and Conspiracy Theories by Marcel Danesi Professor of Semiotics and Linguistic Anthropology at the University of Toronto Canada analyses the speeches of dictators including Mussolini Stalin and Hitler as well as prominent hate groupsHis research finds there is one thing they all have in common they all use dehumanising metaphors to instil and propagate hatred of othersldquoThe intent of such speech is to attack those who do not belong to the mainstream such as racial minorities or people of different sexual orientationsrdquo Danesi said citing example of words like lsquopestsrsquo lsquoreptilesrsquo and lsquoparasitesrsquo used by the Nazi regime to compare outsiders and minorities to animalsDanesirsquos research shows that dehumanising metaphors like these are so powerful because they tap into and switch on existing circuits in the brain that link together important and salient images and ideasIn effect metaphors bypass higher cognitive reasoning centres directing our thoughts to focus on certain things whilst ignoring othersAccording to Danesi the more these circuits are activated the more hardwired they become until it becomes almost impossible to turn them offSimilarly research shows that people who believe conspiracy theories develop more rigid neural pathways meaning they find it difficult to rethink situationsldquoWhen we come across a big lie or a conspiracy theory it can shape our ideas without us even being aware of itrdquo Danesi saidldquoBy being exposed to particular metaphors we may develop hostile feelings towards specific groups this is why hate groups use metaphors to turn the switches on so as to motivate people to violent activismrdquo he addedUnfortunately once people begin to believe lies they are unlikely to change their minds even when confronted with evidence that contradicts their beliefs the research showedMoreover they are more likely to seek out information that confirms their beliefs avoid anything that is in conflict with them or even turn the contrasting information on its head making it impossible to change their minds everAccording to Danesi this can have devastating consequences ldquoWhen lies are used to generate hate harmful behaviours tend to result including violence and genocide against the target individual or groupsrdquo Danesi saidSo how can one protect from the power of liesDanesi said the best thing we can do is to understand the metaphors of the other party and to examine onersquos own metaphors However history and science tells us that it is unlikely to work research shows that once a lie is accepted as believable the brain becomes more susceptible to subsequent lyingThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever