Why Well-Documented Facts Don’t Stand A Chance Against Juicy False Narratives
Why do we buy into narratives that exclude other cultural groups? Consider messages about Muslims being terrorists. The narratives more or less go something like this. “The 9/11 bombing of the twin towers changed life in America. There are people in other parts of the world that are determined to disrupt our way of life. The Muslims behind the attack were jihadists. We must end these threats from the Middle Eastern to protect American lives.”
We know that the above narrative overgeneralizes. Yet the human brain loves the drama such narratives create. It offers us a solution for coping with threats that can disrupt our lives at any moment should misfortune becomes our fate. The narrative works because it offers a hero that will keep us safe if only we put our support behind the protectors.
According to the cognitive scientist, Rachel D. Godsil, our brain also appreciates the simplicity and ease of consumption that narratives offer even when we suspect they are false. In contrast, reading or listening to a set of facts that exposes a narrative’s fallacies takes more brain work.
Simplistic Thinking Is Our Road to Hell in Modern Life
A set of facts and statistics about how Muslim stereotypes are inaccurate isn’t juicy – the main staple of simplistic thinking. A juicy, provocative narrative captures our attention whether true or false. The truth has little chance of winning out when an inaccurate negative stereotype narrative is repeated over and over again as though it is true. At some point, these repeated narratives have the power of a story that has been shared over generations. No one questions whether it is based on fact or fiction. The narratives become part of the way we make sense out of everyday life.
The human brain loves simplicity, but that is also its shortcoming. Everyday life is becoming increasingly complex with the speed of technological innovations and the diversity of people we come in contact with. We need to challenge our assumptions to avoid getting caught up in simplistic thinking. This is the most effective way to safeguard against undermining our own best interests.
Unconscious Bias Thinking to the Rescue?
While unconscious bias training may help, it also suffers from being too brainy. That’s because most of us suffer from ambivalent inclusion. We hold competing beliefs and values concerning cultural differences and we are unaware of it. The implicit bias results are not enough to reconcile the sense that it does not matter. As individuals, most of us do not buy that we are prejudiced. That is not who we see in the mirror no matter what the implicit bias test results show.
What is needed is a set of folk narratives that inspire people to defeat the false narratives. Consider a narrative with a protagonist that comes to a fork in the road ahead. One direction leads to pain island and the other leads to pleasure island. You can make the decision emotionally such as which path looks the easiest or scenic or relying on wisdom. Guess which is required to master current circumstances?
About the Author
Billy Vaughn, Ph.D. CDE is a cognitive cultural psychologist. Dr. Vaughn lends his cultural diversity strategic initiative, training, training design, and inclusion measurement expertise to professionals engaged in bottom line organizational results. He is also executive director of the Diversity Executive Leadership Academy.
Resources
Vaughn, B. Ambivalent Inclusion talk. Tech Inclusion Conference 2017. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4uuSfE4tmYg
Godsil, Rachel (2018). Mind sciences and the creating new narratives: The right to define who we are. Hass Institute for a Fair & Inclusive Society (UC Berkeley). https://haasinstitute.berkeley.edu/mind-sciences-and-creating-new-narratives?mc_cid=4df8209e77&mc_eid=a262eaadd0
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