In the absence of the right cues, we reject messages that don’t fit with our preconceived views or preexisting plans. We aren’t gullible: by default we veer on the side of being resistant to new ideas.
Here’s a nice quote from the book which summarizes Mercier’s perspective, The second argument, far less persuasive in my view, is that this epistemic vigilance makes deception from others relatively rare and unsuccessful for persuasive purposes. Human beings are discriminating figures, capable of evaluating contradictory messages from self-interested interlocuters and protecting themselves from the deceptions of others.
The first argument, one which I believe has a great deal of truth to it, is hinted at by the title-the gullibility of the average person has been greatly exaggerated. There are two core arguments put forward in Not Born Yesterday, the latest book by cognitive scientist Hugo Mercier.
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