Hearing a lie repeatedly makes it 35 percent more believable
When a falsehood is played on a loop, the brain mistakes the feeling of familiarity for the weight of evidence, creating a powerful mental trap.
The human brain has a dangerous glitch known as the illusory truth effect, where the mere repetition of a statement makes it feel more factual. This cognitive shortcut increases the believability of a claim by roughly 35 percent, regardless of how absurd it sounds. This phenomenon was famously weaponized after the 2012 shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary. Despite overwhelming evidence, repeated denials by figures like Alex Jones convinced a segment of the public that the tragedy was a hoax, eventually resulting in 1.5 billion dollars in legal judgments.
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