Scientists find a link between low intelligence and acceptance of 'pseudo-profound bulls***'
Those who are impressed by wise-sounding quotes are also more likely to believe in conspiracy theories and the paranormal
Those who are more receptive to pseudo-profound new-age statements are more likely to have lower intelligence and a greater faith in alternative medicine, the study found John Minihan/Express/Getty Images A new scientific study has found that those who are receptive to pseudo-profound, intellectual-sounding 'bulls***' are less intelligent, less reflective, and more likely to be believe in conspiracy theories, the paranormal and alternative medicine.
PhD candidate Gordon Pennycook and a team of researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, tested hundreds of participants to make the link, detailing their findings in a paper entitled 'On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bulls***', which mentions the word 'bulls***' exactly 200 times (surely some sort of record).
Defining bulls*** is a tricky task, but Pennycook and his team tried their best in the paper.
As an example, they gave the following 'pseudo-profound' statement: "Hidden meaning transforms unparalleled abstract beauty."
The paper says: "Although this statement may seem to convey some sort of potentially profound meaning, it is merely a collection of buzzwords put together randomly in a sentence that retains syntactic structure."
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Scientists find a link between low intelligence and acceptance of 'pseudo-profound bulls***' | Science | News | The Independent
Those who are impressed by wise-sounding quotes are also more likely to believe in conspiracy theories and the paranormal
Those who are more receptive to pseudo-profound new-age statements are more likely to have lower intelligence and a greater faith in alternative medicine, the study found John Minihan/Express/Getty Images A new scientific study has found that those who are receptive to pseudo-profound, intellectual-sounding 'bulls***' are less intelligent, less reflective, and more likely to be believe in conspiracy theories, the paranormal and alternative medicine.
PhD candidate Gordon Pennycook and a team of researchers from the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada, tested hundreds of participants to make the link, detailing their findings in a paper entitled 'On the reception and detection of pseudo-profound bulls***', which mentions the word 'bulls***' exactly 200 times (surely some sort of record).
Defining bulls*** is a tricky task, but Pennycook and his team tried their best in the paper.
As an example, they gave the following 'pseudo-profound' statement: "Hidden meaning transforms unparalleled abstract beauty."
The paper says: "Although this statement may seem to convey some sort of potentially profound meaning, it is merely a collection of buzzwords put together randomly in a sentence that retains syntactic structure."
mo
Scientists find a link between low intelligence and acceptance of 'pseudo-profound bulls***' | Science | News | The Independent
