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This article misses the mark terribly. "Zero sum" thinking has some explanatory power for why people line up behind a chosen leader, but it doesn't explain why

This article misses the mark terribly. "Zero sum" thinking has some explanatory power for why people line up behind a chosen leader, but it doesn't explain why they choose that leader in the first place. To me, the reason most people choose liars as leaders is because they prefer comfortable falsehoods to hard truths. Decisions aren't driven by self interest of material benefit, but rather the ego boost of what makes them feel smart/superior/etc. This also applies to nuance that would make people think, which is why for every political topic in the US, the mainstream opinions are invariably based around some ignorant groupthink. Looking at the US political process with the standard narrative of "people make decisions and leaders carry them out", it's surprising that anything useful comes out of it at all. I'd say the halfway-useful results have more to do with politicians actually working for entrenched business interests, with the main mechanism of elections being to make people think they asked for the results. Of course, that is a horrible dynamic if you actually desire freedom.

BeFlatXIII 3y ago
> they prefer comfortable falsehoods to hard truths I think it goes farther than this. They choose liars because liars are supernormal stimuli for the body politic. If their lies are too obvious, they may be rejected, but most liars appear as better candidates than an ideologically similar candidate bound by truth.
- mindslight 3y ago
  > They choose liars because liars are supernormal stimuli for the body politic That might be a better way of describing it, at least for some things. Things that people want to be stimulated about, as opposed to things they want to ignore.
darkclouds 3y ago
> To me, the reason most people choose liars as leaders is because they prefer comfortable falsehoods to hard truths. I think you hit the nail on the head there, and probably explains the belief in gods and how religions also exploit it. A sort of psychotherapy session for the community, if you want to believe in that.
avgcorrection 3y ago
> To me, the reason most people choose liars as leaders is because they prefer comfortable falsehoods to hard truths. Decisions aren't driven by self interest of material benefit, but rather the ego boost of what makes them feel smart/superior/etc. This also applies to nuance that would make people think, which is why for every political topic in the US, the mainstream opinions are invariably based around some ignorant groupthink. “People” don’t see the reality but you do—huh.

BeFlatXIII 3y ago

> they prefer comfortable falsehoods to hard truths I think it goes farther than this. They choose liars because liars are supernormal stimuli for the body politic. If their lies are too obvious, they may be rejected, but most liars appear as better candidates than an ideologically similar candidate bound by truth.

mindslight 3y ago
> They choose liars because liars are supernormal stimuli for the body politic That might be a better way of describing it, at least for some things. Things that people want to be stimulated about, as opposed to things they want to ignore.

darkclouds 3y ago

> To me, the reason most people choose liars as leaders is because they prefer comfortable falsehoods to hard truths. I think you hit the nail on the head there, and probably explains the belief in gods and how religions also exploit it. A sort of psychotherapy session for the community, if you want to believe in that.

avgcorrection 3y ago

> To me, the reason most people choose liars as leaders is because they prefer comfortable falsehoods to hard truths. Decisions aren't driven by self interest of material benefit, but rather the ego boost of what makes them feel smart/superior/etc. This also applies to nuance that would make people think, which is why for every political topic in the US, the mainstream opinions are invariably based around some ignorant groupthink. “People” don’t see the reality but you do—huh.