Nobody Knows Anything and the Illusory Truth Effect

A recent interview on Andrew Huberman talked about hypertrophy.

The guest dispelled a common myth, that one needs to break down muscle in order to build it.

This myth has become so popularized, it's used as an analogy for things outside of body building. Which only makes it worse.

This is just one of many examples that illustrate the "illusory truth effect" -- that if something is repeated enough times, even when participants are told that repetition does not mean something is true, and if that something had no evidence to support it.

In one study with 120 undergraduates, the participants were asked to generate false statements. These statements, along with independently generated false statements, were then repeated back to these same participants.

After 3 repetitions, even those who generated the the false statements were significantly more likely to rate their own false statements as true.

In this context, especially one with multiple echo chambers, gurus, thread bois willing to repeat something heard and amplify it, is one to identify what is actually known and true?

Back to the hypertrophy example, the researcher said that there are other ways to induce muscle growth without damaging the muscle. In fact, because volume had a greater impact, damage that incurred long rest periods would be less successful than volume-based mechanical stimulation.

And yet, how many times has the myth about "damaged muscles grows" been repeated and followed?

What does this mean?

First, more than anything else, it means hearsay, especially on the Internet, is questionable.

Second, it means identifying truly trustworthy sources will be more essential.

Third, thinking for oneself, even questioning conventional wisdom, matters more than ever.

Fourth, if you do want people to believe you, showing up and repeating the same thing over and over can move the needle.

Nobody knows anything scares me, but it is also slightly freeing.