One study conducted by Dr Goldwater, which has so far been presented at a conference, attempted to understand the power of positive and negative anecdotes. "Perhaps by identifying with the details, it rips you away from a critical evaluation of the evidence underlying it," she said. Barnier, a professor of cognitive science at Macquarie University. Plenty of engaging, specific examples can capture your emotion and empathy, according to Amanda J. We're biased to sometimes think narrative detail is linked to accuracy, when that's not always the case. A friend's nephew whose case of the measles was cured by tea tree oil is more engaging than a dozen dry public health announcements. In those groups, it's easy to observe the seductive nature of personal stories. ( Netflix) The power of the anecdoteĪs a journalist who reports on online misinformation, I've spent plenty of time in anti-vaccination Facebook groups or in internet forums that suggest herbal remedies protect against the coronavirus. In other words, because I've heard so many anecdotes about the power of cold water, when I hear an embellishment dressed up in scientific jargon, I may be more likely to endorse it.ĭutch athlete Wim Hof teaches Goop employees yoga in the snow at Lake Tahoe. There's also the 'illusory truth effect', where the more familiar something sounds, the more likely you are to believe it's true. "It's actually much easier to add things to your mental model of how things work than to take things away." It is often simpler for us to add knowledge than subtract it, he said. There are many reasons why we find pseudoscience persuasive, according to Dr Micah Goldwater, a cognitive scientist at the University of Sydney. So perhaps my mind was primed to fall for this exact episode of Goop.
Wim Hof is not the first person to extol the health benefits of freezing water - friends have told me the same, and if you believe the stereotype, Swedish people thrive off running from saunas to ice lakes. Half way through an episode of the lifestyle guru's Netflix series which explored the Wim Hof breathing method, I was almost on board to have cold showers for the rest of my life.
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