Ask A Genius 994: “Trump-supporting rhetoric is often cynical and self-serving”
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2024/07/01
Rick Rosner: So, we’ve talked about this before, but one of the Republican projects about 50 years ago was to corral all the less informed people in America because they’re more politically manipulable, and it’s easier to get them riled up and energized. That project has largely succeeded fifty years later, and the Republican Party has many of these individuals. Not every Republican is uninformed; there are plenty of — so as I’ve said, people 45 and older in the U.S. have 94% of privately held assets, including boomers and some older Gen Xers. They have all the financial resources. Some individuals support Trump, even though they know he’s flawed because he allows them to retain more wealth. Some individuals aren’t entirely flawed themselves but support Trump for practical reasons.
You can vote based on financial interests without being entirely unethical, but there are plenty of wealthy individuals who are voting for Trump for selfish reasons and are willing to parrot pro-Trump talking points.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: Do they genuinely believe these talking points?
Rosner: They promote philosophies like self-reliance and the idea that people should keep their hard-earned money, which benefits the rich. They argue that taxation is theft, which disadvantages the non-rich. During Trump’s first administration, the only major legislative accomplishment was a tax cut for the wealthy and corporations. He intends to do it again if re-elected. While the motivations of wealthy Trump supporters are understandable, their dissemination of Trump-supporting rhetoric is often cynical and self-serving.
They likely don’t believe the rhetoric they promote if they are intelligent and wealthy. There is a correlation between intelligence and accumulating wealth, so they are aware of the manipulation. However, they recognize that non-wealthy Trump voters can be less informed, and they exploit this. Working-class Trump voters often fall into the Dunning-Kruger effect, where they are too uninformed to realize their lack of knowledge. Over time, if someone pretends to believe in falsehoods long enough, they accumulate more arguments for them and believe them. Many working-class Trump voters might initially support him cynically but eventually come to believe in him, often influenced by conservative media genuinely.
Conservative outlets like Fox News persuade people over time that their viewpoints are correct. They promote ideas like traditional gender roles and dismiss the Trump-Russia dossier as entirely debunked. Consistent exposure to such messages creates a comprehensive worldview that makes individuals feel informed, even if they aren’t. It makes you think you’re smart because you have the whole picture. However, if you look at the output of these people on social media, it’s clear they’re misguided, thinking they’re intelligent. Now, in other discussions we’ve had, I’ve mentioned that there is little variation in human intelligence overall. There are a few very smart people and a few mentally disabled individuals, but most people fall within a normal range, much like height. Most people are between four foot ten and six feet tall; you only find a few people who are two feet tall or eight feet tall. The same applies to intelligence. However, if the media conspires to make you believe falsehoods, it can make you less informed than you might otherwise be.
I danced around the Dunning-Kruger effect. Dunning-Kruger is the part of the intelligence spectrum where you’re too uninformed to realize your lack of knowledge. Smart people know they’re smart, more or less. People with average intelligence understand their abilities because they saw how they did in school. Some people might be deluded or have low self-esteem either way, but most people have a rough idea of their intelligence. The problem arises with uninformed individuals who can be persuaded that they possess common sense and superior knowledge, leading to the Dunning-Kruger effect — being too uninformed to realize you’re uninformed.
Jacobsen: What about the opposite end of that spectrum, where genuine inquiries are happening on the Democrat side or even among independents to balance out the conversation?
Rosner: To balance it out, Democrats have two main problems. First, they have a big tent problem. The Republicans have moved far to the right, which should leave more of the political spectrum open to the Democrats, but it also means dealing with extreme views on both ends. You’ve got loud people who are almost Republicans or who are Republicans angry at the Democrats for not being more conservative, fake Democrats saying the same thing, and then far-left lunatics, making it hard to get everyone to agree. Then you also have the lean-back Democrats who look at the nonsensical rhetoric from Trump and think people are too smart to believe it. They assume that once people see what the Democrats are offering, they’ll naturally come over because the Democrats are less terrible than the Republicans.
This well-intentioned complacency — expecting that being on the side of good will win the race — is also a form of stupidity. There’s a failure on the Democrats’ part to be as aggressive and straightforward in their messaging as the Republicans. Trump doesn’t care about the truth of his statements. There are some simple, true messages that the Democrats could consistently promote, such as pointing out that Trump is detrimental to the country. While there is some of this, it is not aggressive enough. They could also use some untrue statements for powerful messaging that they don’t employ. Consequently, they often get outmaneuvered. So, there’s your balance — a certain amount of complacency and stupidity on the left contrasted with the aggressive manipulation on the right.
They were feeling that you represent all that is moral and good. Trump supporters feel that way, too. They believe they’ve been told that liberals are destroying America, that all their children are going to be turned into transgender individuals who undergo surgeries, and that they need to be mean and ruthless to fight for what makes America great. So, there is indeed stupidity on both sides. But nothing compares to the aggressive Dunning-Kruger stupidity on the right. There’s this passive, everything-will-be-okay stupidity on the left. Let me get a glass of water here. But we’ve got a problem in America where uninformed people have been manipulated to support one side. It’s a lopsided situation. They may not like politics, but this is a significant issue happening in America to its detriment. I can’t help that this is a reality, and it is inherently political.
Many people on Twitter, among Trump supporters, claim to have professions that require some intelligence. A couple of things could be happening. Some are cynical boomers who’ve made their money and are on the Trump train because they know it’s problematic, but they like holding onto their money and punishing those they disagree with. Another possibility is that some individuals lie or exaggerate their credentials to make their statements more convincing. For example, I had an extended interaction with someone who claimed to be a nuclear reactor physicist.
The more I pressed her, the more inconsistencies arose. Her name didn’t appear in any relevant literature, and she eventually claimed to be designing a fusion reactor, which is not a solo endeavour but a team effort involving dozens, if not hundreds, of people. Moreover, she didn’t know that no commercially available fusion reactor exists. When I asked her a basic question about neutrons, she ghosted me. Her photos were stolen from a Swedish fitness model, revealing her as a completely bogus person. So, both people exaggerate their achievements to be more convincing advocates for Trump and those with legitimate achievements who want to keep their money and punish the opposition.
But that doesn’t change the fact that there are more uninformed supporters of Trump than on the other side. This is intentional, as the GOP has courted these individuals since the 1970s. Unfortunately, intelligence has become political, but that is the situation in the U.S. and possibly other countries affected by mass social media manipulation. The term “low information voters” is a euphemism for gullible voters, which correlates with less informed voters. Brexit, for instance, was passed on the backs of individuals who were effectively lied to.
So, what can be done about this? Maybe the World Intelligence Network can address it. Plenty of averages indicate that the average Trump voter is likely less informed than the average non-Trump voter based on who you see supporting Trump on TV and social media. I’ve looked around for studies, but there’s nothing definitive. Because people avoid this topic, and no one wants to publish an academic paper on the I.Q.s of Trump supporters versus non-Trump supporters. But it’s a reality based on an actual strategy.
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