Episode 27: Naive Realism – I’m Right; You’re Misinformed, Evil, or Stupid

Written by Phil in Uncategorized

Phil introduces the idea of Naive Realism and comes dangerously close to “enlightened centrism” at some points. Steve and Phil discuss how to have better conversations about politics, and how to possibly sway some people’s way of thinking.

Coined by Lee Ross in the 1990s, he defined it:

“We see the world in an objective, unmediated, unbiased way. We view it exactly as is, and we believe reasonable people will always agree with us. If they don’t, then we will have to examine what it is they don’t understand or what they’re misinformed about.”

At the bottom: If we have the same understanding and information, we must come to the same conclusions. We are uniquely objective.

This episode was edited by ChrisAshvo.

Citation

  • Naive Realism (Psychology)
  • Naive Realism Philosophy Video – the one Phil bemoaned being boring
  • Middle East – For those who are as ignorant as Phil, it includes these countries: only Egypt, Syria, Israel, Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain, and Qatar.
  • The Three Tenets (Source):
    • Believe that they see the world objectively and without bias.
    • Expect that others will come to the same conclusions, so long as they are exposed to the same information and interpret it in a rational manner.
    • Assume that others who do not share the same views must be ignorant, irrational, or biased.
  • Anchoring (Psychology): a cognitive bias whereby an individual’s decisions are influenced by a particular reference point or ‘anchor’.
  • Chiplessness (Episode 22)
  • Schemas (Psychology): describes a pattern of thought or behavior that organizes categories of information and the relationships among them. It can also be described as a mental structure of preconceived ideas, a framework representing some aspect of the world, or a system of organizing and perceiving new information.
  • Dog whistle (politics): the use of coded or suggestive language in political messaging to garner support from a particular group without provoking opposition.
  • Cyanide is the poison that tastes like almonds.
  • Hanlon’s Razor (cognitive bias):  “never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity”
  • The Big 5 Personality Traits – The most scientifically valid personality test (Myers-Briggs is basically horoscopes, don’t buy into it!)
  • Chesterton’s Fence (politics) –  the principle that reforms should not be made until the reasoning behind the existing state of affairs is understood.
  • Y2K was a Legit Threat – Check out more on this episode of Stuff You Should Know
  • Life Imitating Art (philosophy)
  • Lie by Omission – (The wikipedia article for lying is pretty interesting) when an important fact is left out in order to foster a misconception
  • David Brooks (conservative commentator)
  • Standard Distribution – For the normal distribution, the values less than one standard deviation away from the mean account for 68.27% of the set; while two standard deviations from the mean account for 95.45%; and three standard deviations account for 99.73%.
  • Alt-Right Political Strategy: This Youtube series (Innuendo Studios) covers their tactics amazingly.
  • Hiroo Onoda (Historical figure): an Imperial Japanese Army intelligence officer who fought in World War II and was a Japanese holdout who did not surrender at the war’s end in August 1945. After the war ended Onoda spent 29 years hiding out in the Philippines until his former commander travelled from Japan to formally relieve him from duty by order of Emperor Shōwa in 1974.
  • Inoculation Theory (Psychology): a social psychological/communication theory that explains how an attitude or belief can be protected against persuasion or influence in much the same way a body can be protected against disease–for example, through pre-exposure to weakened versions of a stronger, future threat.
  • Slate Star Codex – The Cowpox of Doubt: A great piece that elaborates Inoculation Theory.
  • John Stuart Mill quote:
    • “He who knows only his own side of the case knows little of that. His reasons may be good, and no one may have been able to refute them. But if he is equally unable to refute the reasons on the opposite side, if he does not so much as know what they are, he has no ground for preferring either opinion… Nor is it enough that he should hear the opinions of adversaries from his own teachers, presented as they state them, and accompanied by what they offer as refutations. He must be able to hear them from persons who actually believe them…he must know them in their most plausible and persuasive form.”
  •  Tripwire (trap)
  • Claymore mine (weapon)
  • Political Compass – A slightly more nuanced political measurement tool than simple Left-Right dynamics, the political compass defines left-right to be economic (Left being more collectivist; right being more capitalist) and up-down being social/authority (Up being authoritarian, giving power to the state; down being anarchic/libertarian, giving power to the individual).
  • Universal Basic Income (UBI): a sociopolitical financial transfer concept in which all citizens of a given population regularly receive a legally stipulated and equal financial grant paid by the government without a means test.
  • Coleman Hughes (podcast): Conversations with Coleman
  • The Ratchet Effect (politics): Not exclusively American, this is a trend you can see all over the world:
    • Example: Trump cut the corporate tax rate from 35% to 21%. Biden’s plan is to raise it back to only 28%. This is the ratchet effect, not Biden being a progressive.
  • Dale Carnegie (Author of How to Win Friends and Influence People): 
  • Stephen Covey (Author of 7 Habits of Highly Effective People): “Seek first to understand, then to be understood.”
  • Abraham Lincoln Quote: “I don’t like that man. I must get to know him better.”

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