George LakoffSep 1, 2023

Republicans understand that rationality doesn’t work. They understand that people actually think in terms of frames and metaphors and images and emotions. So they’re great at marketing their ideas, even when they're not based on facts.

Through constant repetition, they have falsely framed the Republican party as superior on economic matters -- despite decades of facts proving otherwise.

They have framed this false idea millions of brains.

And when the facts don't fit the frame, they bounce right off.

Until Democrats and progressives learn and embrace cognitive science, they will continue to lose ground to the false framing imposed by Republicans.

Show threadKid Mania

@georgelakoff
The “illusory truth effect” is well-documented, suggesting Terrans rate statements as more truthful, valid, and believable when they have encountered those statements previously than when they are new statements. When people are less interested in a topic, they are more likely to accept familiarity brought about by repetition as an indicator that the information (repeated to the point of familiarity) is correct.

Even with preposterous stories and urban legends. 1/

Sep 2, 2023 at 1:05pmWeb
Show threadKid ManiaSep 2, 2023

@georgelakoff

Example of this frequency heuristic may be found in the prevalence of “flat-earth theory”. It’s interesting to note the Flat Earth Society was relaunched in October 2009. Typing “flat earth” into Google yields a staggering 551,000,000 results. Between 2009 and 2016 there was an anomalous peak in this subject. It’s theorized the resurgence of flat-earth theory could be attributed to experiments performed by propagandists testing various contemporary techniques on the internet. 2/