Why We Believe in Nonsense
June 8, 2026
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Prof Sam Vaknin Episodes Around June 8, 2026
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32:03Now PlayingWhy We Believe in Nonsense
YouTube Description
as posted by the channelFluid reality: subjective sourcing and relativism
Collapse of authority and expert gatekeeping, disintermediation
Container fallacy (“but I read it in a book!”)
Faking technologies
Synecdoche (truthful elements in bogus narrative or theory), conspiracism
Metonymy (handle or idiom mistook for reality)
The need to believe (e.g., rationality, scientism, skepticism). Faith is self-referential and never questions its own premises.
Vehemence misperceived as truthfulness
Repetition entrenches and supplants (factual malleability)
Desirable factuality
Allure of outlandishness: re-enchantment of the world, magical thinking
Plausibility trap (commonsense fallacy)
Malignant egalitarianism (equiauthority and equivalidity)
Reinforcing resonance
Equivalence fallacy
Halo effect
Logical fallacies
Cognitive biases
Narratives as in-group loyalty tests, entrance exams, and rites of passage, secret handshake and arcane language, symbology
Shared fantasies
Anxiolysis and false hope in an uncertain, terrifying world
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