81. Anger Sells Better Than Sympathy

What if the same trust that keeps society working also makes us easy to influence?

This episode looks at how media, politics, and group psychology exploit our wiring for safety and belonging. We explore why anger spreads faster than reason and how outrage cycles erase nuance.

You’ll learn simple ways to spot manipulation, question intent, and stay steady in a world built on emotional triggers. The goal isn’t cynicism, but clarity, high trust in people, and high scrutiny of incentives.

Follow the show, share with a friend, and leave a quick review with one trigger you’ll watch for this week.

Episode Transcript

SPEAKER_00 (00:01):
What in life deserves our time and attention,
and what things don't?
I hope that as we consider thatquestion, along with other
topics on this show, that we canall learn to live our lives just
a little more intentionally.
This is Seth Roberts.
Thanks for joining me onSkipping Stones.

(00:25):
Humanity is inherently gullible.
We imagine ourselves to be theseindependently thinking entities.
When in reality, we're so easilyshaped by the people around us
and by the people that know howgullible we actually are.
Our penchant for belief in whatthe people around us are saying

(00:46):
makes sense.
It keeps us safe.
It keeps us safe from beingisolated, it keeps us safe from
going to extremes relative towhere your group currently
stands.
But it makes us easy targets tomanipulate also.
Just because everyone is doingit doesn't mean it isn't crazy
or even evil at times.

(01:08):
I think it's good to actuallyremember that once upon a time,
normal meant that if you won awar against someone, you were
entitled to rape, pillage, andenslave them.
At another point in time, it wasnormal for ancient Spartans to
cast off newborns to die in thesun if they were deemed unfit.

(01:29):
And yet at another point intime, throughout much of Western
civilization, it was normal tosee public campaigns about
euthanizing the elderly and thementally disabled.
In spite of that, generallyspeaking, I think it's a good
thing that we're somewhatgullible.
The less trust people have ineach other makes for a more

(01:51):
chaotic society.
Trusting other people is thebedrock of civilization.
Without it, we could accomplishnothing.
I live currently without muchfear because I trust that the
farmers are going to reliablyget food to the stores, and in
turn the stores are going toreliably have it available for

(02:14):
me.
I trust that the power companyis going to keep the lights on
for me.
And I trust that the city willkeep the water running into my
home.
Trust is the glue that keeps ustogether.
But some people know how tomanipulate that trust.
They know what triggers are themost likely to prompt action.

(02:36):
Unfortunately for us, the kindsof things that prompt action are
not cool-headed, reasonablepetitions, and they're not even
the kinds of petitions thatelicit sympathy.
Anger and fear are what reallygets a group of people to move
on something.
I read a lot of news day to day,and I like to think that I've

(02:58):
read enough of it by this pointthat I've gotten better at
reading through the lines.
For example, when I read thenews now, I don't pay so much
attention to what the articlessay.
Instead, I try to pay moreattention to why the news
organization wanted to publishthat article in the first place,
and what fear they're tappinginto in order to get me to read

(03:21):
it.
When I do this, it lets me see akind of truth.
Even if all it tells me is whatwas important to the editors of
the publication.
For years I rode the emotionalroller coaster that my favorite
publications wanted me to ride.
I would be shocked, I would bemad, I would be feeling
indignant at the things going onin the world.

(03:44):
It was beyond my understandingwhy certain other publications
refused to address the samestories as some of my favorites
at the time.
It wasn't very good for me.
I would get caught up in thesecycles of anger and resentment.
It made me despise the peoplearound me that thought
differently.
And I was a willing sheep beingtaken advantage of by people

(04:07):
that knew my nature better thanI did.
By and large, my views have notreally changed much since I
realized how gullible I was.
But at least I'm no longer soeasily worked up.
News organizations know thatwhen we're afraid, we crave
information, even if only hintsat information.

(04:29):
They also know that when we feelthreatened, our response is not
to sulk away, but to get enragedand want to fight back.
If you want to rile people up,make them think a thing is going
to threaten the way theycurrently are living.
I find it interesting that overthe course of my short life, the
only truly tangible changethat's been a result of politics

(04:53):
in America has been inflation.
Which is certainly something tobe concerned about.
But the way we talk about ourpolitics, you might end up
thinking that the world isactually going to crash and
burn.
Politicians know that angersells.
Virtually every political adfollows the same format.

(05:15):
Opponent wants to do A, B, or C,but they won't stand for it.
You would almost think ournation is being run by injury
attorneys.
Politics is almost less aboutwhat the politician is
accomplishing and more aboutwhat they are preventing the
other side from doing.
To clarify, I know that politicsdo matter.

(05:38):
And they can be deeply relevantbeyond just inflation.
And maybe one of these dayseverything will indeed crash and
burn.
But if that's to happen, it'sgoing to likely begin with the
saber rattling of someone's newspublications.
When people get angry, nuancegoes out the window.

(05:58):
All we want to do is to take asledgehammer to whatever we're
mad about.
But sledgehammers are reallyonly good at breaking things.
And most of the time, that isn'tthe goal we're actually trying
to accomplish.
So unfortunately, we're oftenusing the wrong tool for the
job.
At least if there's any subtletyneeded to accomplish what we

(06:21):
actually want.
When we lose our heads to anger,cooler heads are the real
winners.
They are the ones that aretypically controlling the anger
to begin with.
They are the ones guiding yourattention to where they want it,
while in the meantime, theyperform a sleight of hand
somewhere else.
Sadly, this is never going tochange so long as humans

(06:42):
continue to be humans.
But maybe you don't have to bethe gullible one.
It's so easy to see how peoplewith opposing views are being
manipulated by their informationsources.
But try not to be so naive as tothink that your news sources are
not also trying to manipulateyou.

(07:05):
This is Skipping Stones.
You can find this podcastanywhere you choose to listen to
podcasts.
For more information about me,feel free to visit
skippingstonesr.com.
And if you enjoyed the show,please like or subscribe.
If there is a topic you wouldlike me to speak on, please feel
free to email me at info atskippingstonesr.com.

(07:28):
New episodes will be releasedweekly every Monday.