Sure, some are fallible and susceptible to this. As far as a liar is concerned, I think the difference is the ability to adjust when confronted with contradictory evidence. If someone in a position of power and control decides to nuke a country because they believe a zombie plague is rampant there, it is better if they have personality type that's agreeable and conscientious when confronted with evidence that shows otherwise. Ideally they realize they're more susceptible to believing falsehoods than others (the researchers showed that there were differences amongst people), and so the susceptible person removes themselves from a position of power and control.
Most people can't adjust to many of their beliefs when confronted with contradictory evidence.
The most interesting modern example of this is the zoning vs "real estate investment" beliefs going around. We know that zoning restrictions are the cause of the housing crisis. It's been studied to death and the relationship is measurable. We know that real estate investment is a symptom of the predictable supply restrictions caused by byzantine land use laws.
But most people don't want to hear it. They're like "no it's Blackstone and greedy developers" blah blah. And they will use easily falsified arguments all day to try to "prove" their completely mistaken opinion.
We are all susceptible - it just depends on the topic.
I'm not an expert, but isn't the housing crisis global? From London to Mumbai, Barcelona to Shanghai, Amsterdam to Boston, the world's cities are becoming unaffordable. For the most part you can search "<city name> housing crisis" and find plenty of results. Cities without a housing crisis, like Vienna or Tokyo, appear to be the exceptions. It seems unlikely that North American zoning norms are the biggest contributing factor.
Almost all local governments have created the same processes because the incentives to do so are the same. Nobody said "North American zoning" - it's zoning (and land use restrictions) overall.
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[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 33.5 ms ] threadThe most interesting modern example of this is the zoning vs "real estate investment" beliefs going around. We know that zoning restrictions are the cause of the housing crisis. It's been studied to death and the relationship is measurable. We know that real estate investment is a symptom of the predictable supply restrictions caused by byzantine land use laws.
But most people don't want to hear it. They're like "no it's Blackstone and greedy developers" blah blah. And they will use easily falsified arguments all day to try to "prove" their completely mistaken opinion.
We are all susceptible - it just depends on the topic.