Why Do We Believe Things That Aren’t True? The Psychology of Belief, Misinformation & the Illusory Truth Effect
The Human ExperimentShow Notes
Why do we believe things that aren’t true? This episode explores the psychology of belief and the cognitive mechanisms that can make misinformation feel credible. Ethan Reed examines the illusory truth effect, processing fluency, repetition, memory distortion, source credibility, motivated reasoning, identity, false memories, and the continued influence of misinformation. The episode explains why repeated exposure can increase perceived truth, why familiarity is not evidence, how post-event information can influence memory, and why false information can sometimes continue affecting reasoning even after correction. It also explores how emotional investment and existing beliefs can influence the way people process evidence, while emphasizing that these mechanisms do not make truth impossible. The central lesson is calibrated uncertainty: distinguish what you know from what you think and what you assume, evaluate the claim and its evidence separately from the source, and remain willing to update your beliefs when better evidence appears. Hearing something is not verifying it. Recognition is not proof. Familiarity is not truth.
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