#credulity — Public Fediverse posts

A quotation from Garry Wills

This is always the danger with propaganda, that it becomes at last more credible to its disseminators than to its targets.

Garry Wills (b. 1934) American author, journalist, historian
The Kennedy Imprisonment: A Meditation on Power, ch. 18 (1981)

More about this quote: wist.info/wills-garry/4211/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #garrywills #foolingyourself #agitprop #belief #credibility #credulity #disinformation #lies #propaganda #selfdeception #spin #truth

A quotation from Samuel Johnson

Among the calamities of war, may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates, and credulity encourages.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1758-11-11), The Idler, No. 30

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/5636/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #belief #credulity #deceit #deception #disinformation #meme #nationalhonor #nationalinterest #nationalism #patriotism #propaganda #publicrelations #spin #war

A quotation from Samuel Johnson

Among the calamities of war, may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates, and credulity encourages.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1758-11-11), The Idler, No. 30

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/5636/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #belief #credulity #deceit #deception #disinformation #meme #nationalhonor #nationalinterest #nationalism #patriotism #propaganda #publicrelations #spin #war

A quotation from Samuel Johnson

Among the calamities of war, may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates, and credulity encourages.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1758-11-11), The Idler, No. 30

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/5636/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #belief #credulity #deceit #deception #disinformation #meme #nationalhonor #nationalinterest #nationalism #patriotism #propaganda #publicrelations #spin #war

A quotation from Samuel Johnson

Among the calamities of war, may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates, and credulity encourages.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1758-11-11), The Idler, No. 30

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/5636/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #belief #credulity #deceit #deception #disinformation #meme #nationalhonor #nationalinterest #nationalism #patriotism #propaganda #publicrelations #spin #war

A quotation from Samuel Johnson

Among the calamities of war, may be justly numbered the diminution of the love of truth, by the falsehoods which interest dictates, and credulity encourages.

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) English writer, lexicographer, critic
Essay (1758-11-11), The Idler, No. 30

More about this quote: wist.info/johnson-samuel/5636/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #samueljohnson #belief #credulity #deceit #deception #disinformation #meme #nationalhonor #nationalinterest #nationalism #patriotism #propaganda #publicrelations #spin #war

"Indeed, documentation is often taken as further evidence of conspiracy, while assertion (that this or that will 'detoxify' your blood or that COVID deaths were exaggerated) is taken as gospel….

Hannah Arendt wrote in The Origins of Totalitarianism that 'a mixture of gullibility and cynicism is prevalent in all ranks of totalitarian movements.'”

#gullibility #credulity #vaccines #research #science #ConspiracyTheories #gullicism #SocialMedia #disinformation #Covid #authoritarianism
/5

"The cynicism is highly selective: Gullicists see everyone’s hidden motives—except when they don’t. They are able to reject any claim rooted in actual evidence—whether in science, politics, or history—while embracing the most breathtakingly absurd assertions on the same topics."

#gullibility #credulity #vaccines #research #science #ConspiracyTheories #gullicism #SocialMedia #disinformation #Covid #authoritarianism
/4

"Reliable information is both more available and harder to find than ever—and those who spread misinformation have been rewarded with positions of power, platforms they can exploit to further pollute the information environment. ...

The spread of anti-vax conspiracy theories is just another example of the gullicism that defines our age."

#gullibility #credulity #vaccines #research #science #ConspiracyTheories #gullicism #SocialMedia #disinformation #Covid #authoritarianism
/3

"The coronavirus wasn’t the only epidemic to hit the United States in the past decade. Americans are also facing a bizarre epidemic of gullibility and cynicism—gullicism, if you need a portmanteau—that is drawing people into a world of conspiracism and falsehoods, one where facts are drowned out by a cacophony of extremely loud and wrong voices."

#gullibility #credulity #vaccines #research #science #ConspiracyTheories #gullicism #SocialMedia #disinformation #Covid
/2

Noting that "to be an anti-vaxxer, one must be simultaneously credulous and distrustful—credulous of hucksters, and distrustful about empiricism," Adam Serwer coins the term "gullicist" to describe many Americans of the post-Covid Trump era — entirely skeptical of science, documentation, research, entirely gullible when it comes to hucksters and charlatans peddling nonsense.

#gullibility #credulity #vaccines #research #science #ConspiracyTheories #gullicism
/1

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/2026/03/cynical-gullible-american-man/686079/?gift=j43dmafZti9kgQ5HJxDAVKTGbwJEeLlPqLwMbvHIK-8&utm_source=copy-link&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=share

A quotation from David Eddings

A man my age is willing to accept almost anything. After the initial shock of astonishment that comes each morning when I wake up and discover that I’m still alive, I can face the day with an open mind.

David Eddings (1931-2009) American writer
The Shining Ones, Part 1, ch. 7 [Fontan] (1993)

More info about this quote: wist.info/eddings-david/80270/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #davideddings #acceptance #age #belief #credulity #growingold #oldage #openmind

A quotation from David Eddings

A man my age is willing to accept almost anything. After the initial shock of astonishment that comes each morning when I wake up and discover that I’m still alive, I can face the day with an open mind.

David Eddings (1931-2009) American writer
The Shining Ones, Part 1, ch. 7 [Fontan] (1993)

More info about this quote: wist.info/eddings-david/80270/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #davideddings #acceptance #age #belief #credulity #growingold #oldage #openmind

A quotation from David Eddings

A man my age is willing to accept almost anything. After the initial shock of astonishment that comes each morning when I wake up and discover that I’m still alive, I can face the day with an open mind.

David Eddings (1931-2009) American writer
The Shining Ones, Part 1, ch. 7 [Fontan] (1993)

More info about this quote: wist.info/eddings-david/80270/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #davideddings #acceptance #age #belief #credulity #growingold #oldage #openmind

A quotation from David Eddings

A man my age is willing to accept almost anything. After the initial shock of astonishment that comes each morning when I wake up and discover that I’m still alive, I can face the day with an open mind.

David Eddings (1931-2009) American writer
The Shining Ones, Part 1, ch. 7 [Fontan] (1993)

More info about this quote: wist.info/eddings-david/80270/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #davideddings #acceptance #age #belief #credulity #growingold #oldage #openmind

A quotation from Charles Mackay

During seasons of great pestilence, men have often believed the prophecies of crazed fanatics, that the end of the world was come. Credulity is always greatest in times of calamity.

Charles Mackay (1814-1889) Scottish poet, journalist, song writer
Memoirs of Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds, “Modern Prophecies” (1841)

More info about this quote: wist.info/mackay-charles/79500…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #charlesmackay #believer #truebeliever #belief #chaos #credulity #danger #disaster #endoftheworld #prediction #prophecy

A quotation from Chris Boucher

THE DOCTOR: Would you like a jelly baby?
LEELA: It’s true then! They say the Evil One eats babies.
THE DOCTOR: You mustn’t believe all they say.

Chris Boucher (1943-2022) British TV screenwriter, script editor, novelist
Doctor Who (1963), 14×04 “The Face of Evil,” Part 1 (1977-01-01)

More info about this quote: wist.info/boucher-chris/4641/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #doctorwho #belief #credulity #evil #propaganda #receivedwisdom #rumor #truth #wisdom

A quotation from Robert Louis Stevenson

Undying hope is co-ruler of the human bosom with infallible credulity. A man finds he has been wrong at every preceding stage of his career, only to deduce the astonishing conclusion that he is at last entirely right.

Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) Scottish essayist, novelist, poet
Essay (1878-03), “Crabbed Age and Youth,” Cornhill Magazine, Vol. 37

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/stevenson-robert-lou…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #robertlouisstevenson #age #credulity #error #hope #infallibility #maturity #oldage #rectitude #selfdeception #selfrighteousness #wisdom

A quotation from Eric Hoffer

Our credulity is greatest concerning the things we know least about. And since we know least about ourselves, we are ready to believe all that is said about us. Hence the mysterious power of both flattery and calumny.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
The Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 128 (1955)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/hoffer-eric/17022/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #calumny #credulity #flattery #insult #others #popularity #publicopinion #selfawareness #selfimage #selfopinion

A quotation from Thomas Fuller

If thou trustest every one, thou wilt be known to be a Fool; if thou trustest none, thou wilt be suspected to be a Knave.

Thomas Fuller (1654-1734) English physician, preacher, aphorist, writer
Introductio ad Prudentiam, Vol. 2, # 1989 (1727)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/fuller-thomas-1654/7…

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #credulity #distrusting #folly #fool #knave #projection #trust #trusting #untrustworthy

A quotation from Eric Hoffer

When we believe ourselves in possession of the only truth, we are likely to be indifferent to common everyday truths. Self-deception, credulity, and charlatanism are somehow linked together.

Eric Hoffer (1902-1983) American writer, philosopher, longshoreman
Passionate State of Mind, Aphorism 83 (1955)

Sourcing, notes: wist.info/hoffer-eric/16699/

#quote #quotes #quotation #qotd #erichoffer #charlatan #credulity #dogmatism #onetrueway #selfdeception #truebeliever #truth

A quotation from Chamfort

Education must be based on two things: ethics and prudence; ethics in order to develop your good qualities, prudence to protect you from other people’s bad ones. If you attach too great an importance to goodness, you produce credulous fools; if you’re too prudent, you produce self-serving, scheming rogues.
 
[L’Éducation doit porter sur deux bases, la morale et la prudence ; la morale, pour appuyer la vertu ; la prudence, pour vous défendre contre les vices d’autrui. En faisant pencher la balance du côté de la morale, vous ne faites que des dupes ou des martyrs; en la faisant pencher de l’autre côté, vous faites des calculateurs égoïstes.]

Nicolas Chamfort (1741-1794) French writer, epigrammist (b. Nicolas-Sébastien Roch)
Products of Perfected Civilization [Produits de la Civilisation Perfectionée], Part 1 “Maxims and Thoughts [Maximes et Pensées],” ch. 5, ¶ 321 (1795) [tr. Parmée (2003), ¶ 205]

Sourcing, notes, alternate translations: wist.info/chamfort-nicolas/897…

#quote #quotes #quotation #care #credulity #dupe #education #egotist #ethics #fool #martyr #morality #prudence #rogue #scheming #values #vice #virtue

〝While dominant interventions, such as fact-checking, media literacy tips and news coverage of misinformation, aim to prevent the spread and endorsement of misinformation, we found that they may inadvertently prime individuals to approach all information, whether false or true, with heightened suspicion and scepticism.〞

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41562-024-01884-x.epdf?sharing_token=R0UQuAQ-xO5L7rw5M22sA9RgN0jAjWel9jnR3ZoTv0Pq1p48FEaxiapudp-FAJohl0AIx7aRCp4Pw-srNR2X6qgK3ahVLR4JT6xk1Z2_-Ji8hGNXcGmfIhkDjh1FKUOs825V7u-pm8lNYd1rSZG0KWvkWzQLRt58G9QvwDnXgG4%3D

#misinformation #MDM #factChecking #interventions #credulity #media