Cognitive Ease

I recently watched an interesting video on Derek Muller’s Veritasium YouTube channel. The video is called The Illusion of Truth. In the video, Muller explains a psychological phenomenon called cognitive ease. When you hear or read something and it seems familiar and right and true, you are experiencing cognitive ease. (This is the opposite of cognitive strain, in which we have trouble understanding or believing something, even though it may well be true.) Sometimes the reason we experience cognitive ease is because we are hearing or reading something that we already know is true or because it simply makes sense.

But beware: we humans can be manipulated into feeling cognitive ease – manipulated into feeling that something is true when it is not. One of the simplest ways to create cognitive ease is through frequent repetition of a phrase. With each repetition, we become a bit more comfortable with the idea, and the idea becomes a bit easier to believe. Eventually, we accept the statement as fact. Advertisers and sales people (and politicians) have known about this phenomenon for a long time.

In his video, Muller mentions neither politics nor politicians. The video is just a discussion of cognitive ease: what it is, how it works. However, as I watched the video, I couldn’t help thinking about a certain politician and the derogatory nicknames he consistently applies to his opponents.

Hillary Clinton - “Crooked Hillary.” Bernie Sanders - “Crazy Bernie.” Ted Cruz - “Lyin’ Ted.” Marco Rubio - “Little Marco.” Jeb Bush – “Low Energy Jeb.” And more recently, Senator Elizabeth Warren - “Goofy Elizabeth Warren” and “Pocahontas.”

This politician also attacks our judiciary, labeling judges “so-called judges” and deriding their rulings as “erroneous” and “ridiculous.” He refers to news stories he doesn’t like as “fake news.” Clearly, he feels he should be able to do whatever he wants regardless of the courts or the Constitution.

While this politician is hardly alone in the manipulation game, he is the most visible, the most brazen, and perhaps the most dangerous of the many who will gain by convincing us to believe in their worldview. If we do that, we may find ourselves supporting what they want to the detriment of what we the people need.

Let’s remember: cognitive ease through frequent repetition is an effective tool used by advertisers, sales people, and less-than-scrupulous politicians.