There's a common thread that runs through a lot of irrational human behavior that I've recognized:

People often accept surface explanations of their own and others' habits when nefarious explanations would be better fitting.
Our media generally depicts humans as being far more inclined to proactively help others (and avoid incentive traps) than humans are in real life, to a degree that seems unaccounted for even when you consider storytelling purposes.
People tend to trust that organizations like hospitals, nonprofits, and state bureaucracies will self-organize towards pursuing their nominal goals, so long as they claim to be doing that, even if those bureaucracies lack strong organizational incentives to do so.
People are shocked by, and often go into outright denial about, the observed behavior of average people or institutions. If it feels like it suggests too much widespread duplicity, or contradicts the bullet above, there must be another [...]

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First published:
February 13th, 2025

Source:
https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/eHJC5LPaKNHTbmoLu/virtue-signaling-and-the-humans-are-wonderful-bias-as-a

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“Virtue signaling, and the ‘humans-are-wonderful’ bias, as a trust exercise” by lc

LessWrong (30+ Karma)