An Entry About Gullibility

I keep reading this story about members of a "sex cult" in Papua New Guinea who have been persuaded by their leader to have sex in public because it will increase their banana harvest 10-fold. Police apparently tracked down the leader to a hut which they surrounded, but the man made a dash for the wilderness with around seven naked followers. I don't know what to say really. I'm genuinely astounded by the gullibility of people.

Staying on the subject of gullibility, I just read about a study at Warwick University that suggests people are prepared to sign a statement saying they saw someone doing something illegal, even if they didn't actually see it, if presented with doctored video evidence apparently showing the crime. In the study the subject was put in a gambling scenario. When it was finished they were told the person next to them had been cheating even though it wasn't true. One third of the subjects were also told that the person had been caught on camera, and another third were shown doctored video footage that apparently showed the cheating. In the group that were shown the video, 50% signed a statement saying that they saw the cheating take place.

This is interesting. It's being suggested that the results are surprising. On the face of it that's a fair assumption since 50% of subjects who saw the doctored footage swore that they witnessed something which never happened. But think about it, if you're put in that position where you are told someone cheated and you are then shown footage of it, there are only two explanations; either the footage is faked, or your memory has failed you. Memory failure is common, happens every day. It's more likely than someone faking video footage. I'm going to carry on thinking about this.