Trump & The Body Temperature Of A Chicken
January 6 and The Easy Knowledge Trap
For those who don’t know him, Derek Muller is an Australian-Canadian science communicator who produces the interesting, intelligent and very well produced Veritasium Youtube Channel science programs. If you want to learn something about the world of science, it would be hard to find a better place than Veritasium.
In his Youtube video “The Illusion Of Truth”, Derek opens with: “The simple mention of ‘the body temperature of a chicken’ is enough for people to assume that ‘the body temperature of a chicken is 34 degrees (Celsius), is a true statement’”.
Huh? Exposure to just a partial sentence “the body temperature of a chicken” which contains no information, leads us to accept that whatever comes after it makes it true?
Wow! That’s a potent trap. Imagine having a platform where you reach hundreds of millions of people and you use this simple mechanism: repeat a nonsensical phrase and you audience will accept whatever information you you decide to attach to it.
The “radical left”
“Imagine?” I hear you ask? During Trump’s presidency not a day went by without the president making some nonsensical claim (each one of them one “that the world has never seen before”). We are hard pressed to find Trump…
