"We humans are NOT truth seeking animals. We're social animals" - Jeff Bezos
This is a MASSIVELY HELPFUL concept in understanding humans / their behavior.
For essentially all of our evolution as a species we have been heavily dependent on social acceptance via the herd, tribe, village, city, state, country, office, co-workers, family unit, etc. Think about it, if you are cut off from these things life gets really hard, really fast. "Go along to get along" as the old adage goes. We are heavily incentivized to get along with the group...and those incentives almost always dictate our human behavior.
As a quick thought exercise, take the case of religion. Religion is something that most of us would self-report as a "truth seeking" endeavor. But for argument's sake let's take another angle on it via the stats below.
85% of the population of the Middle East is Islamic
80% of the Indian population is Hindu
70% of the United States is Christian
76% of the EU is Christian
Source: Wikipedia as of 2023. Numbers approximate.
Looking at these numbers dispassionately you could make the argument that which religion you follow is largely a function of your geography, aka adopting the religion of those around you, aka a social function. If it was truly a "truth seeking" endeavor, shouldn't the data be the same regardless of location?
Aside: I want to call myself out here for the opportunity for hypocrisy, as I am a Christian living in the United States. I've switch from Catholic to WELS Lutheran in my life due to something that could resemble "truth seeking", and studied the factual case for the existence of the central figure in Christianity, Jesus Christ (via mostly this great book), but probably still don't know enough about the tenants and held truths of other world religions.
Humans placing higher value on social acceptance over seeking the truth was a huge factor in some of mankind's biggest blunders: Nazi Germany, U.S. slavery, apartheid, etc.
The point is not to get religious or political here, but to simply to make you aware of this important human insight.
Why is this important for me? We don't internalize this concept enough. It is almost as if our instinct to believe humans will seek the truth is at odds with the reality that most often humans will take the path of least resistance, which is to absorb the social norms of the herd. Knowing this can give you a massive advantage in navigating life, business, relationships, etc. If you observe a situation where people are being social, at the expense of seeking the truth, you may have found an opportunity to improve the world.
Resources of Impact:
Jeff Bezos on The Lex Fridman Podcast 12/14/23 - The whole thing is great, but go to 1:28 for the segment on the importance of truth telling
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