Mastodawn

A study of approximately 100 individuals tested whether repeated exposure to false but fluent statements leads people to believe they are true, and whether knowledge of their falsity protects against such a tendency. Results were ambiguous, but evidence weighed in favor of knowledge protecting against truth illusions.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0010027726001393

#Science #Cognition #Belief #DecisionMaking

WIST Quotations 1d ago

A quotation from Terry Pratchett

People who would not believe a High Priest if he said the sky was blue, and was able to produce signed affidavits to this effect from his white-haired old mother and three Vestal virgins, would trust just about anything whispered darkly behind their hand by a complete stranger in a pub.

Terry Pratchett (1948-2015) English author
Discworld, Book 18, Maskerade (1995)

More about this quote: wist.info/pratchett-terry/8413…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #terrypratchett #discworld #authority #belief #credulity #credulousness #gossip #gullibility #naivete #sources #trust #whispers #maskerade

Pratchett, Terry - Discworld, Book 18, Maskerade (1995) | WIST Quotations

People who would not believe a High Priest if he said the sky was blue, and was able to produce signed affidavits to this effect from his white-haired old mother and three Vestal virgins, would trust just about anything whispered darkly behind their hand by a complete stranger in a…

WIST Quotations

The OW Factor 3d ago

Who knew?

#Belief
#PhysicalHealth
#Quotes
#Walks

https://theowfactor.org/2026/05/19/who-knew/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Who knew?

Who knew how important it is to wear the right shoes for a walk? I didn’t. But I think my wife is right that the aches and pains, unusually strong, that I’ve had since my Sunday afternoon walk are …

The OW Factor

Zarion Zory 6d ago

If your most deeply held beliefs were inherited from ancestors who lived in a world that no longer exists, at what point did you actually choose your own mind?

#ZarionZoryStory

#Belief #Mind #Thoughts #Neurons

The OW Factor May 15

Rage and resignation

#Belief
#Hope
#Resilience
#Family
#PoliticalDiscontent
#MentalHealth
#PhysicalHealth
#Dysfunction
#LowMorale
#WellBeing
#Fatigue
#Discouragement
#DoomScrolling

https://theowfactor.org/2026/05/15/rage-and-resignation/?utm_source=mastodon&utm_medium=jetpack_social

Rage and resignation

Do you ever feel like life swings between rage and resignation? That’s how it frequently feels to me, especially given the awful people in power, the very real injustices that they perpetrate, and …

The OW Factor

Hublai (charismatic megafauna)May 15

#Opinion becomes #belief becomes #certainty becomes #identity becomes #genocide. And it's time to abandon every #believer to the worst fate they wish on others.

RE: https://bsky.app/profile/did:plc:mpqyj4hyl7bfv53cmprqimor/post/3mluexrddjk2y

WIST Quotations May 14

A quotation from Eric Hoffer

The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new; nor can it keep people persuaded once they have ceased to believe. It penetrates only into minds already open, and rather than instill opinion it articulates and justifies opinions already present in the minds of its recipients. The gifted propagandist brings to a boil ideas and passions already simmering in the minds of his hearers. he echoes their innermost feelings. Where opinion is not coerced, people can be made to believe only in what they already “know.”

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 83 (3.14.83) (1951)

More about this quote: wist.info/hoffer-eric/11263/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #agitprop #belief #confirmation #confirmationbias #conviction #disinformation #fear #ideas #justification #opinion #passion #predisposition #prejudice #propaganda #reinforcement #truebeliever

Hoffer, Eric - True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements, Part 3, ch. 14, § 83 (3.14.83) (1951) | WIST Quotations

The truth seems to be that propaganda on its own cannot force its way into unwilling minds; neither can it inculcate something wholly new; nor can it keep people persuaded once they have ceased to believe. It penetrates only into minds already open, and rather than instill opinion it articulates…

WIST Quotations

Psychotherapy Commission ACPE May 13

The article discusses how preexisting beliefs shape learning from feedback and influence the processing of news, using eye-tracking data to show pupillary responses that occur before a conscious decision. It highlights how accuracy in updating beliefs is affected by whether rewards align with those beliefs and how confidence levels modulate openness to change.

This topic is of interest to psychology readers because it links cognitive learning mechanisms with belief formation and misinformation, illustrating how internal states and physiological signals can shape information processing in everyday life.

Article Title: Your eyes reveal how strongly you believe fake news before you even make a choice

Link to PsyPost Article: https://nolinkpreview.com/www.psypost.org/your-eyes-reveal-how-strongly-you-believe-fake-news-before-you-even-make-a-choice/

#belief #cognition #misinformation #eye-tracking #pupillometry #reinforcementlearning #confidence # misinformation #learningbias #psychology