Intelligence, Media Trust and The Instagram Illusion
A compilation of 7 recent learnings 💡
Intelligence is positively correlated with ideological bias. “In 2013 the Yale law professor Dan Kahan conducted experiments testing the effect of intelligence on ideological bias. In one study he scored people on intelligence using the “cognitive reflection test,” a task to measure a person’s reasoning ability. He found that liberals and conservatives scored roughly equally on average, but the highest scoring individuals in both groups were the most likely to display political bias when assessing the truth of various political statements.” - H/T Gurwinder Bhogal
Traditional media trust is absolutely imploding. “In February, our audience insights team sent an email proudly announcing that [NPR] had a higher trustworthy score than CNN or The New York Times. But the research from Harris Poll is hardly reassuring. It found that “3-in-10 audience members familiar with NPR said they associate NPR with the characteristic ‘trustworthy.’ ” Only in a world where media credibility has completely imploded would a 3-in-10 trustworthy score be something to boast about.” (Source)
Gentle parenting doesn’t work. “In studies that still manage to chagrin therapists, Baumrind found that authoritative parenting styles produced the most successful, independent, self-reliant, and best emotionally regulated kids; it also produced the happiest kids—those less likely to report suffering from anxiety and depression.” (Source)
Reading a nonfiction book shouldn’t be a chore. “Most books have one point to make. (Obviously, this is nonfiction. I’m not talking about fiction.) They have one point to make, they make it, and then they give you example after example after example after example, and they apply it to explain everything in the world. Once I feel like I’ve gotten the gist, I feel very comfortable putting the book down.” - Naval Ravikant
The Pygmalion Effect. “The Pygmalion Effect is a behavioral phenomenon in which the level of expectations placed on a subject impact their level of performance. High expectations lead to high performance. Low expectations lead to low performance. The core idea is simple: Those who have high expectations placed on them are more likely to internalize these expectations and improve their performance accordingly. Those who have low expectations placed on them are more likely to internalize these expectations and weaken their performance accordingly.” - H/T Sahil Bloom
The Instagram Illusion. “If you see people having incredible experiences on Instagram — it's easy to get envious. If you see people having incredible experiences whilst on their phone updating their Instagram — you feel sorry for them. Zoom out and remember how the sausage is made.” - H/T George Mack
Luxury beliefs are ideas and opinions that confer status on the upper class, while often inflicting costs on the lower classes. “White privilege is the luxury belief that took me the longest to understand, because I grew up around a lot of poor white people. Affluent white college graduates seem to be the most enthusiastic about the idea of white privilege, yet they are the least likely to incur any costs for promoting that belief. Rather, they raise their social standing by talking about their privilege. When policies are implemented to combat white privilege, it won’t be Yale graduates who are harmed. Poor white people will bear the brunt.” (Source)