When a story feels convincing, what background facts do we stop checking?
When a story feels convincing, what background facts do we stop checking? How persuasive narratives slip past our critical thinking—and what to watch for Big-picture framing When a story feels convincing , our brains often trade careful fact-checking for the comfort of coherence. This piece looks at the background facts we quietly stop checking—like time frames, base rates , and incentives —once a narrative “just makes sense.” You’ll see how base rate neglect , fuzzy definitions , and missing context sneak in under the radar, and how even thoughtful people get swept along. We’ll also walk through a real-world example and a simple questioning pattern you can use in meetings, strategy, and news consumption to enjoy good stories without being fooled by them. The invisible trade-off: coherence vs. curiosity When a story clicks, the brain gets a tiny reward: Ah, this fits. That “click” is great for memory and communication—but it has a cost. We start treating ...