Something You Should Know

SYSK TRENDING - The Dangers of Collective Illusions

May 26, 2026·28 min·4-min readconversationalscience
Podzilla Summary (4 min)
TLDR
Collective illusions occur when individuals publicly conform to beliefs they privately reject, mistakenly assuming others support them, leading to widespread societal distortions. Social scientist Dr. Todd Rose explains how conformity bias, amplified by social media and cognitive shortcut

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Guest

D

Dr. Todd Rose

conversational on Something You Should Know

Mentions

Books, people, and resources mentioned in this episode.

People

Dr. Todd RoseMike Carruthers

Books

Collective Illusionsby Dr. Todd Rose

Companies

Populous

Research & Papers

Private opinion studies on success

Topics

collective illusions and social conformitythe psychology of self-silencinghow social media distorts public opinionfringe views amplified by algorithmsmoral and civic courage in public discourse

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