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There was research last year that showed that cynicism is a way for less intelligent people to protect themselves from being taken advantage of. Basically, if y

There was research last year that showed that cynicism is a way for less intelligent people to protect themselves from being taken advantage of. Basically, if you know you're not smart enough to figure out if other people are genuine or out to scam you, defaulting to assuming that all strangers are lying is a winning strategy. The same kind of logic fuels conspiracy-minded people. The one thing they all have in common is that they reject the mainstream view, they reject the consensus. And in turn, they embrace outlandish explanations, and the communities around those, because it gives them a false sense of superiority. They know something the rest of the sheep don't! So these two psychological defense mechanisms interact with each other, and when the information flow in society is increasing, the threshold for how smart you need to be to keep up also increases. So people in general probably aren't getting stupider, but they're getting more and more overwhelmed, which looks the same.

TallGuyShort 6y ago
That makes a lot of sense. I'd be curious for a link or reference to that research if you remember any details.
- henrikschroder 6y ago
  On cynicism: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167218783195 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014616721878319... On conspiracy beliefs: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550611434786 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550611434786
reader_mode 6y ago
>There was research last year that showed that cynicism is a way for less intelligent people to protect themselves from being taken advantage of. Basically, if you know you're not smart enough to figure out if other people are genuine or out to scam you, defaulting to assuming that all strangers are lying is a winning strategy. That narrative is ridiculous - what does intelligence have to do with it ? I guarantee you you are uninformed on so many issues and you could easily be taken advantage of no matter how intelligent you were by someone who spent time preparing/specialising in deception - especially if the negative outcome is less then the cost of investigating the issue. Nobody has the time to investigate every choice so by your logic cynicism should be a default strategy for everything you're not an expert in.
- henrikschroder 6y ago
  > That narrative is ridiculous - what does intelligence have to do with it ? https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167218783195 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014616721878319... "Further studies demonstrated that cynicism is more likely to be a worldview endorsed by individuals with lower rather than higher levels of education (Haukkala, 2002; Stavrova & Ehlebracht, 2018) and intelligent individuals’ behavior was shown to be more likely to depart from the norms of self-interest (Solon, 2014). Higher levels of education and com-petence in a broader sense might help individuals detect and avoid potential deceit in the first place, thus reducing the probability of negative social experiences, which might in turn contribute to a more positive view of human nature (Yamagishi, Kikuchi, & Kosugi, 1999). Indeed a number of studies showed general cognitive ability to be negatively related to cynical hostility (Barnes et al., 2009; Mortensen, Barefoot, & Avlund, 2012) and positively related to trust (Carl, 2014; Carl & Billari, 2014; Hooghe, Marien, & de Vroome, 2012; Oskarsson, Dawes, Johannesson, & Magnusson, 2012; Sturgis, Read, & Allum, 2010)."
  - reader_mode 6y ago
    >Following this reasoning, high-competence individuals might hold adaptable attitudes and recur to cynicism only when it seems warranted, while their less competent counter- parts might show more cognitive rigidity and—relying on the “better safe than sorry” heuristic—tend to endorse cynicism indiscriminately. Consistent with evolutionary principles, such a “better safe than sorry” strategy can prove efficient when one lacks the ability to correctly identify the relevant features of the sociocultural context one is confronted with and determine whether cynicism is warranted or not (Brumbach, Figueredo, & Ellis, 2009; Gross, 1996). In this sense, at lower levels of competence, holding a negative, cynical view as a default (assuming that people are guided by self-interest unless proven otherwise) might represent a more viable strategy than holding an overly positive view of others’ morality. So the narrative is about competence and intelligence is a factor as it correlates with competence.
- karmakaze 6y ago
  Consider substituting some words and the argument holds. Instead of 'intelligent' say 'uninformed in relevant areas' which would work well to defend non-tech-savvy seniors. > cynicism should be a default strategy for everything you're not an expert in This would indeed follow, but if we allow for a small number of trusted sources can mostly be resolved.
sellyme 6y ago
> cynicism is a way for less intelligent people to protect themselves from being taken advantage of. Basically, if you know you're not smart enough I think "know[ing] you're not smart enough" inherently excludes you from belonging in the category of "less intelligent people". One of the most defining characteristics of stupid people is that they think they're smart.

TallGuyShort 6y ago

That makes a lot of sense. I'd be curious for a link or reference to that research if you remember any details.

henrikschroder 6y ago
On cynicism: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167218783195 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014616721878319... On conspiracy beliefs: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550611434786 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1948550611434786

reader_mode 6y ago

>There was research last year that showed that cynicism is a way for less intelligent people to protect themselves from being taken advantage of. Basically, if you know you're not smart enough to figure out if other people are genuine or out to scam you, defaulting to assuming that all strangers are lying is a winning strategy. That narrative is ridiculous - what does intelligence have to do with it ? I guarantee you you are uninformed on so many issues and you could easily be taken advantage of no matter how intelligent you were by someone who spent time preparing/specialising in deception - especially if the negative outcome is less then the cost of investigating the issue. Nobody has the time to investigate every choice so by your logic cynicism should be a default strategy for everything you're not an expert in.

henrikschroder 6y ago
> That narrative is ridiculous - what does intelligence have to do with it ? https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0146167218783195 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/014616721878319... "Further studies demonstrated that cynicism is more likely to be a worldview endorsed by individuals with lower rather than higher levels of education (Haukkala, 2002; Stavrova & Ehlebracht, 2018) and intelligent individuals’ behavior was shown to be more likely to depart from the norms of self-interest (Solon, 2014). Higher levels of education and com-petence in a broader sense might help individuals detect and avoid potential deceit in the first place, thus reducing the probability of negative social experiences, which might in turn contribute to a more positive view of human nature (Yamagishi, Kikuchi, & Kosugi, 1999). Indeed a number of studies showed general cognitive ability to be negatively related to cynical hostility (Barnes et al., 2009; Mortensen, Barefoot, & Avlund, 2012) and positively related to trust (Carl, 2014; Carl & Billari, 2014; Hooghe, Marien, & de Vroome, 2012; Oskarsson, Dawes, Johannesson, & Magnusson, 2012; Sturgis, Read, & Allum, 2010)."
- reader_mode 6y ago
  >Following this reasoning, high-competence individuals might hold adaptable attitudes and recur to cynicism only when it seems warranted, while their less competent counter- parts might show more cognitive rigidity and—relying on the “better safe than sorry” heuristic—tend to endorse cynicism indiscriminately. Consistent with evolutionary principles, such a “better safe than sorry” strategy can prove efficient when one lacks the ability to correctly identify the relevant features of the sociocultural context one is confronted with and determine whether cynicism is warranted or not (Brumbach, Figueredo, & Ellis, 2009; Gross, 1996). In this sense, at lower levels of competence, holding a negative, cynical view as a default (assuming that people are guided by self-interest unless proven otherwise) might represent a more viable strategy than holding an overly positive view of others’ morality. So the narrative is about competence and intelligence is a factor as it correlates with competence.
karmakaze 6y ago
Consider substituting some words and the argument holds. Instead of 'intelligent' say 'uninformed in relevant areas' which would work well to defend non-tech-savvy seniors. > cynicism should be a default strategy for everything you're not an expert in This would indeed follow, but if we allow for a small number of trusted sources can mostly be resolved.

sellyme 6y ago

> cynicism is a way for less intelligent people to protect themselves from being taken advantage of. Basically, if you know you're not smart enough I think "know[ing] you're not smart enough" inherently excludes you from belonging in the category of "less intelligent people". One of the most defining characteristics of stupid people is that they think they're smart.