727. What Is The Backfire Effect?

[laughs] So I wanna talk about one today called the backfire effect, okay? And we know what something, you know, something backfires, usually what that means.

It kinda blows up in your face, something you intended to be one way goes another way.

So what does that mean when we talk about a bias? Well, when people are shown facts, and I think we have a inclination to believe that when people are shown facts, when people are given a logical argument, that they're gonna go, "You know what? Everything I've believed for the last however long I've been alive is wrong, and I didn't know that until you pointed it out.

Thank you for your logical, well-thought-out response," or answer, whatever it is.

Here's the thing.

In a perfect world, that would be great, and it would be wonderful, and we would be changing hearts and minds right and left.

Unfortunately, that is not the way humans act.

Humans are very emotionally driven, and that's not always a bad thing.

You notice I just said change h- change hearts and, you know, minds, so you have to change hearts too.

But you know, we should be thinking with logic first whenever we can, or we should at least be, be training ourselves to curb that emotional response and, and focus on logic even though, again, easier said than done, even for those of us who really, you know, appreciate a good, well-thought-out, structured, logical, uh, thought process.

But when people are presented with thoughts that are different from their own, a belief structure that is different from their own, instead of sitting back, instead of pausing and saying, "You're right.

Thank you for..." You know, I'm...

Or even, not even saying, "You're right," but even saying, "You know, I'm gonna sit with that information for a little bit.

I'm gonna consider it, and then I'll come back to you with a well-thought-out response." People don't, people don't do that.

A lot of people, their natural inclination when you present an idea that is contrary to their own is going to be defensive.

They're going to not just say, "Maybe I'll think about that," but they're gonna double down on what they believe because how dare you say something that is different from their belief structure.

And that sounds silly, and we can laugh at it, but we all do it.

To use just, like, a, a silly example, right? If somebody were to tell me...

Actually, here's a real controversial opinion.

I'm not a big fan of chocolate, okay? So maybe [laughs] I, we're in a conversation, and I say, "Chocolate is the worst flavor in the world," okay? And instead of us having a civil discussion over whether chocolate is good or bad, you get so mad because you love chocolate, and your grandma makes the best, you know, chocolate pie or chocolate brownies, whatever it is.

And so instead of asking me why I feel that way, you're just gonna start being like, "Well, my grandma makes the best choc- anyone that disagrees with her is, you know, dumb," blah, blah, blah, and you're gonna get really defensive.

Now, chocolate is a silly thing to argue over, though usually when I tell people I don't like chocolate, it does result in some [laughs] arguments.

But chocolate is obviously a silly example.

There's a lot more, uh, political, substantive conversations [laughs] where people are gonna get very upset about it, and so this is what we call the backfire effect.

The backfire effect is when somebody is presented with a, a, uh, either a challenge to their belief or, or a new opinion, a new belief, and instead of considering it, instead of maybe, you know, thinking of the merits of that argument, they're just going to double down, and, and it's gonna become, it's gonna become very personal to them.