Greek version
------------------------------
It is a fact that you can easily fool the people around you and make them seem total idiots: the only thing you have to do is tell them what they want to hear, or even better, provide them evidence about it.
A video that went recently viral -at least in facebook groups and pages I happened to visit- is this:
https://www.facebook.com/449098048626137/videos/469924766543465/?pnref=story
In case you are unable to view it, let me give you a synoptic description: in a furnitureless room with Arabian-styled carpets on the floor, a woman (?) dressed up with a black garment of islamic type, is being threatened by a turbaned man in white clothing that speaks some Arabic dialect and holds a belt (or some kind of lash). The latter starts hitting the ground besides the woman, while she is down on her knees trying to cover herself. A second man in an apparently violent mood nears her holding a wooden object.
That's what happens 'till the half of the video, where I closed it so that I wouldn't punch my screen to the wall, yet I managed to share it on my profile. As it seems I am also hell of an idiot.
Slightly after the second man approaches "her", "she" starts screaming like a bewildered asylum inmate while rolling on the floor, before the men lift "her" up. Before the ending someone laughs behind the camera. The "woman's" behaviour and how "her" voice-tone sounds while screaming was (or should be) enough to understand that "she" is a man dressed up this way for the purposes of the video, not to mention the laugh.
Despite the apparently sarcastic behaviour of the alleged woman at the point where "she" rolls on the floor, and the laugh near the end of the video, some five thousend people hastened to share it with their facebook friends, claiming that muslims are barbarians (which is, when it comes to the radical ones, an undeniable fact).
One may ask oneself: how can these people be so idiotic? Well, in fact what one should ask oneself is not how can they be so idiotic, but if they are actually so.
Every human being has a way to perceive the world, and believes with almost no skepticism everything that seems to support it's manner of thinking, while "deleting" whatever comes in conflict with it. Those mental "deletions" are widely known in the field of psychology as "confirmation bias" -one of the most studied biases by specialists. I don't know whether accepting without skeptisicm everything that seems to confirm your well-established views on various issues as evidence has a name in psychology, but it is a phenomenon taking place everyday.
Since one supports a belief, whether correct or not, each kind of evidence seeming to somehow prove it is instantly accepted by him and being treated by his mind as valid even if it isn't. The stupidest, the most visibly counterfeit "evidence" is considered by you to be valid, whether it is a video, a photograph or some kind of survey or research, just because it is in accordance to what you believe it is true.
As if that was not enough, there is also the previously mentioned "confirmation bias" that biases our thinking: each indication that one may be wrong is treated with the utmost skepticism, as if everything that could prove the opposite of one's opinion is definitely a hoax. Clues supporting the opponent's views are considered by one to be fake ("fake and gay" on the internet), even when one cannot explain what exactly is wrong with them.
In this case, the well-established belief of the ones that shared the video is that fanatic muslims are barbarians (a fact that whoever is unwilling to accept, apparently considers the medieval Christians to be cultivated and civilized as well). This particular video is a form of "evidence" supporting their belief, and therefore the brains of the ones that see it while holding this view typically "silence" the laugh near the ending, as well as the manly scream of the "woman".
We can claim, semi-literally, that even Einstein could be fooled this way: it is how the human mind works.
That is not necessarily bad; each human being needs to somehow self-indentify itself, and a self-identification can be achieved, among other ways, by holding a belief. If we were to change our beliefs with each and every clue proving them wrong, well, we would be rather unstable and unpredictable, not only when it comes to opinions, but in general, given that the same mental functions responsible for this, work when it comes to the way we perceive ourselves and how we are supposed to behave and encounter our everyday issues.
"Silencing" everything that threatens our beliefs while believing instantly almost everything that supports them is a crucial defense-mechanism of our mind against the confusion and uncertainty of having to change itself every once in a while, and it helps us remain stable.
But are those who shared this video believing it's real, idiots? The answer is a resounding yes. If you want to be called a "smart" guy you have to question everything you encounter, even if it confirms your views and opinions. Yet we are all, by this aspect, idiots, for we avoid using skeptisicm in most cases.
Given the above, always keep in mind this: it is really easy to fool the people around you. The only thing you have to do is to tell them what they want or expect to hear, and even provide them evidence about it. All different opinions and evidence will be "silenced" by their brains anyway. If you can exploit this weakness of your people you will be taken seriously by them. And there are persons that earn whole fortunes using this method.
------------------------------
It is a fact that you can easily fool the people around you and make them seem total idiots: the only thing you have to do is tell them what they want to hear, or even better, provide them evidence about it.
A video that went recently viral -at least in facebook groups and pages I happened to visit- is this:
https://www.facebook.com/449098048626137/videos/469924766543465/?pnref=story
The fact that it's uploaded in a Mussolinian fascist page is enough to raise some suspicion...
In case you are unable to view it, let me give you a synoptic description: in a furnitureless room with Arabian-styled carpets on the floor, a woman (?) dressed up with a black garment of islamic type, is being threatened by a turbaned man in white clothing that speaks some Arabic dialect and holds a belt (or some kind of lash). The latter starts hitting the ground besides the woman, while she is down on her knees trying to cover herself. A second man in an apparently violent mood nears her holding a wooden object.
That's what happens 'till the half of the video, where I closed it so that I wouldn't punch my screen to the wall, yet I managed to share it on my profile. As it seems I am also hell of an idiot.
Slightly after the second man approaches "her", "she" starts screaming like a bewildered asylum inmate while rolling on the floor, before the men lift "her" up. Before the ending someone laughs behind the camera. The "woman's" behaviour and how "her" voice-tone sounds while screaming was (or should be) enough to understand that "she" is a man dressed up this way for the purposes of the video, not to mention the laugh.
Despite the apparently sarcastic behaviour of the alleged woman at the point where "she" rolls on the floor, and the laugh near the end of the video, some five thousend people hastened to share it with their facebook friends, claiming that muslims are barbarians (which is, when it comes to the radical ones, an undeniable fact).
One may ask oneself: how can these people be so idiotic? Well, in fact what one should ask oneself is not how can they be so idiotic, but if they are actually so.
Every human being has a way to perceive the world, and believes with almost no skepticism everything that seems to support it's manner of thinking, while "deleting" whatever comes in conflict with it. Those mental "deletions" are widely known in the field of psychology as "confirmation bias" -one of the most studied biases by specialists. I don't know whether accepting without skeptisicm everything that seems to confirm your well-established views on various issues as evidence has a name in psychology, but it is a phenomenon taking place everyday.
Since one supports a belief, whether correct or not, each kind of evidence seeming to somehow prove it is instantly accepted by him and being treated by his mind as valid even if it isn't. The stupidest, the most visibly counterfeit "evidence" is considered by you to be valid, whether it is a video, a photograph or some kind of survey or research, just because it is in accordance to what you believe it is true.
As if that was not enough, there is also the previously mentioned "confirmation bias" that biases our thinking: each indication that one may be wrong is treated with the utmost skepticism, as if everything that could prove the opposite of one's opinion is definitely a hoax. Clues supporting the opponent's views are considered by one to be fake ("fake and gay" on the internet), even when one cannot explain what exactly is wrong with them.
In this case, the well-established belief of the ones that shared the video is that fanatic muslims are barbarians (a fact that whoever is unwilling to accept, apparently considers the medieval Christians to be cultivated and civilized as well). This particular video is a form of "evidence" supporting their belief, and therefore the brains of the ones that see it while holding this view typically "silence" the laugh near the ending, as well as the manly scream of the "woman".
We can claim, semi-literally, that even Einstein could be fooled this way: it is how the human mind works.
That is not necessarily bad; each human being needs to somehow self-indentify itself, and a self-identification can be achieved, among other ways, by holding a belief. If we were to change our beliefs with each and every clue proving them wrong, well, we would be rather unstable and unpredictable, not only when it comes to opinions, but in general, given that the same mental functions responsible for this, work when it comes to the way we perceive ourselves and how we are supposed to behave and encounter our everyday issues.
"Silencing" everything that threatens our beliefs while believing instantly almost everything that supports them is a crucial defense-mechanism of our mind against the confusion and uncertainty of having to change itself every once in a while, and it helps us remain stable.
But are those who shared this video believing it's real, idiots? The answer is a resounding yes. If you want to be called a "smart" guy you have to question everything you encounter, even if it confirms your views and opinions. Yet we are all, by this aspect, idiots, for we avoid using skeptisicm in most cases.
Given the above, always keep in mind this: it is really easy to fool the people around you. The only thing you have to do is to tell them what they want or expect to hear, and even provide them evidence about it. All different opinions and evidence will be "silenced" by their brains anyway. If you can exploit this weakness of your people you will be taken seriously by them. And there are persons that earn whole fortunes using this method.
Δεν υπάρχουν σχόλια:
Δημοσίευση σχολίου