Scott Galloway: Cognitive Dissonance

No Mercy/No Malice
My dad claims “communication is with the listener,” usually after he says something absurd he’d rather not own. I believe most men born before 1970 are biologically incapable of apologizing … “I’m sorry” is admitting defeat to the universe. My dad also often says “perception is reality.” These are two sides of the same coin: We hear what we want to hear — or what the powerful want us to hear. Trump and Elon’s flying monkeys create a reality for them, perceiving every imbecilic action as leadership or part of a genius plan mere mortals don’t have the capacity to understand. Subsequently, their perception/reality: They alone can save us.     

Psychologists Amos Tversky and Daniel Kahneman earned a Nobel Prize for their research into how we create subjective realities. They identified unconscious patterns of thinking — they called them “cognitive biases” — that can lead us to illogical and irrational decisions. In my experience, strong institutions help protect us from these biases. Wealth and success, however, feed them.

Living in a penthouse apartment in the Bahamas with his friends and Adderall, taking breaks to be fellated by the most powerful men in finance or read love letters from Sequoia Capital … what was SBF’s reality? Was he commingling funds between distinct corporations unbeknownst to customers (i.e., fraud) or cross-collateralizing appreciating assets to make others wealthier and the world a better place (see above: genius)? Pro tip: There is an objective truth … and it’s the former.

We’re all at the mercy of these thought patterns. “Reality” is increasingly subjective. A perfect storm of our need for idols, algorithms based on rage that dictate what we see, and the politicization of science has left us adrift, floating through an archipelago of alternative facts. And everyone’s map of the sea is unique. Elon posts a picture of fake guns on his bedside table — some find it baller, others disturbing. He shitposts elected officials — some find it waggish, others gross. Reducing Twitter’s headcount by 50% was justified or cruel based on … the listener.

One flavor of these mental thickets: confirmation bias. This is where we unconsciously value certain facts over others so we can draw a conclusion that aligns with our preexisting beliefs. MORE