Hoodwinked!

Hoodwinked is a state of mind and we see it everywhere. These are those who lie constantly …….to themselves.

Not just lying liars in the usual sense of trying to pull a fast one on others to gain some advantage or other; these are what you call the self-deceived, they pull the wool over their own eyes every time, the big question is why are they foolish enough to do this.

While it wouldn’t be so bad if these legends in their own minds were a fringe group now these dupes make up the majority?

Yes they have their whipping boys as an all too convenient excuse, or so they think. But nobody’s forcing them to blindly follow where they’re being led.

Remember when caught in some violation as a child only to blame it on your best friend; it was his idea. And the response, if he jumped off a cliff would you?

The key message, don’t just blindly follow what others tell you think for yourself.

And this is the problem there too many follower-long’s.

Oh they think they clever but the reality is they only carry the torch for others’ woolly-head ideas.

Mimicry is for apes it’s no way for humans to behave; hold the line.

What’s interesting is these deceivers feed off each other:

A UK study has connected the dots to prove that those who are so desperate to deceive others; deceive themselves first.

It appears the peddlers of deceit are the first to fall victim to others’ doing the same. It is an ongoing cycle; a feed-back loop if you will.

Researchers say this group experience problems when they have to distinguish scientific facts from academic sounding fiction.

The effect is more pronounced once you factor in biases. They also more prone to fall for the fake news they complain about.

The bull shitter is the one that’s easily duped; although this idea runs counter to popular opinion, thus the biggest purveyors of persuasive bullshit are ironically the ones most likely to fall for it in the first place.

The research defines bullshit as information designed to impress, persuade, or mislead.

There are two types of bullshit; the persuasive and evasive kind.

Persuasion uses misleading exaggerations to impress, persuade or fit in with others, while evasion uses irrelevant and evasive language so as to not offend.

Here’s what’s important; the bull shitter’s cognitive ability doesn’t make any difference, it applies to the ignorant as well as the educated fool.

The study titled you can’t bullshit a bull shitter (or can you) was published in the British Journal of Social Psychology.

It goes like this; …………they will grow worse and worse deceiving others and being deceived.