In an era of political tribalism, what we say and what we believe can diverge. A fascinating study of what Americans believe in private vs what they say in public on sensitive issues will be unveiled in 6 weeks. TLDR; “everyone is lying.”Among the findings:
• 60% of Democrats say they support defunding the police. In private, it’s just 9%. “They don’t believe it but think they need to believe it.”
• The majority of Republicans say the election was stolen. Only 14% do in private.
• 60% of Gen Z Americans say Hamas was justified. Only 12% agree in private. “It’s a lifestyle choice. Most don’t believe it.”
• 55% of Americans now admit to self-silencing.The gathering was under the Chatham House Rules, so I can share the ideas but not the source.
I asked about the methodology (conjoint analysis to uncover private beliefs) and if the respondents knew that they were lying in public? How do they resolve their cognitive dissonance? “You come to believe the lie. It’s easier to modify your beliefs than to admit a lie. If you could, you wouldn’t have lied in the first place. Instead, you go more and more extreme in your private views.”
“On X, 80% of the content is generated by 10% of users.”
“Fringe voices become collective illusions.”
“State actors understand the game and create a false consensus. We have root access proof that China was manipulating the Tik Tok algorithm to increase antisemitism.”
“The U.S. now has the lowest level of social trust ever recorded, and it had been declining since the 1930’s.”
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