The Seductions of Clarity

Abstract

The feeling of clarity can be dangerously seductive. It is the feeling associated with understanding things. And we use that feeling, in the rough-and-tumble of daily life, as a signal that we have investigated a matter sufficiently. The sense of clarity functions as a thought-terminating heuristic. In that case, our use of clarity creates significant cognitive vulnerability, which hostile forces can try to exploit. If an epistemic manipulator can imbue a belief system with an exaggerated sense of clarity, then they can induce us to terminate our inquiries too early-before we spot the flaws in the system. How might the sense of clarity be faked? Let's first consider the object of imitation: genuine understanding. Genuine understanding grants cognitive facility. When we understand something, we categorize its aspects more easily; we see more connections between its disparate elements; we can generate new explanations; and we can communicate our understanding. In order to encourage us to accept a system of thought, then, an epistemic manipulator will want the system to provide its users with an exaggerated sensation of cognitive facility. The system should provide its users with the feeling that they can easily and powerfully create categori-zations, generate explanations, and communicate their understanding. And manipulators have a significant advantage in imbuing their systems with a pleasurable sense of clarity, since they are freed from the burdens of accuracy and reliability. I offer two case studies of seductively clear systems: conspiracy theories; and the standardized, quantified value systems of bureaucracies.

Full text

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The$seductions$of$clarity$
C.#Thi#Nguyen#
University#of#Utah#
c.thi.nguyen@utah.edu#
#
#
(This#is#a#pre-print.#Please#cite#the#final#version,#
forthcoming#in#the#!"#$%&'()*+*,*-&".&/0+%")"10#&2,11%-3-(*))#
#
#
#
The$feeling$of$clarity$can$be$dangerously$seductive.$It$is$the$feeling$associated$with$understanding$
things.$And$we$use$that$feeling,$in$the$rough-and-tumble$of$daily$life,$as$a$signal$that$we$have$
investigated$a$matter$sufficiently.$The$sense$of$clarity$functions$as$a$thought-terminating$heuris-
tic.$In$that$case,$our$use$of$clarity$creates$significant$cognitive$vulnerability,$which$hostile$forces$
can$try$to$exploit.$If$an$ epistemic$ manipulator$ can$ imbue$ a$ belief$ system$with$an$exaggerated$
sense$of$clarity,$then$they$can$induce$us$to$terminate$our$inquiries$too$early$—$before$we$spot$the$
flaws$in$the$system.$How$might$the$sense$of$clarity$be$faked?$Let’s$first$consider$the$object$of$imi-
tation:$genuine$understanding.$Genuine$understanding$grants$cognitive$facility.$When$we$under-
stand$something,$we$categorize$its$aspects$more$easily;$we$see$more$connections$between$its$dis-
parate$elements;$we$can$generate$new$explanations;$and$we$can$communicate$our$understand-
ing.$In$order$to$encourage$us$to$accept$a$system$of$thought,$then,$an$epistemic$manipulator$will$
want$the$system$to$provide$its$users$with$an$exaggerated$sensation$of$cognitive$facility.$The$sys-
tem$should$provide$its$users$with$the$feeling$that$they$can$easily$and$powerfully$create$categori-
zations,$generate$explanations,$and$communicate$their$understanding.$And$manipulators$have$a$
significant$advantage$in$imbuing$their$systems$with$a$pleasurable$sense$of$clarity,$since$they$are$
freed$from$the$burdens$of$accuracy$and$reliability.$I$offer$two$case$studies$of$seductively$clear$
systems:$conspiracy$theories;$and$the$standardized,$quantified$value$systems$of$bureaucracies.$
#
#
#
Here#is#a#worrying#possibility:#there#is#a#significant#gap#between#our#feeling#that#some-
thing#is#clear#and#our#actually#understanding#it.#The#sense#of#clarity#can#be#a#marker#of#cog-
nitive#success,#but#it#can#also#be#seductive.#Oversimplifications#slip#easily#into#our#minds#and#
connive#themselves#into#our#deliberative#processes.#
In#that#case,#the#sense#of#clarity#might#be#intentionally#exaggerated#for#exploitative#ends.#

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Outside#forces,#with#an#interest#in#manipulating#our#beliefs#and#actions,#can#make#use#of#clar-
ity’s#appeal.#Seduction,#after# all,# often# involves#a#seducer.#Romantic# seduction,# in# its#more#
malicious#form,#involves#manipulating#the#appearances#of#intimacy#and#romance#in#order#to#
subvert#the#aims#of#the#seduced.#There#is#an#analogous#form#of#cognitive#seduction,#where#
hostile#forces#play#with#the#signals#and#appearances#of#clarity#in#order#to#lead#our#thinking#
astray.#
The#sense#of#clarity#is#a#potent#focal#point#for#manipulation#because#of#its#crucial#role#in#
managing# our# cognitive# resources.# After# all,# we# only# have# so# much# mental# energy# to# go#
around;#we#need#to#prioritize#our#inquiries.#In#particular,#we#need#some#way#to#estimate#that#
we’ve#probably#thought#enough#on#some#matter#for#the#moment#—#that#it’s#probably#safe#to#
move#on#to#more#pressing#matters,#even#if#we#haven’t#gotten#to#the#absolute#rock#bottom#of#
the#matter.#Our#sense#of#clarity,#and#its#absence,#plays#a#key#role#in#our#cognitive#self-regula-
tion.#A#sense#of#confusion#is#a#signal#that#we#need#to#think#more.#But#when#things#feel#clear#
to#us,#we# are# satisfied.#A#sense#of#clarity#is#a#signal#that# we# have,#for#the#moment,#thought#
enough.#It#is#an#imperfect#signal,#but#it#is#one#we#often#actually#use#in#the#quick-and-dirty#of#
everyday#practical#deliberation.#This#shows#why,#say,#manipulative#interests#might#be#par-
ticularly#interested#in#aping#clarity.#If#the#sense#of#clarity#is#a#thought-terminator,#then#suc-
cessful#imitations#of#clarity#will#be#quite#powerful.#If#somebody#else#can#stimulate#our#sense#
of#clarity,#then#they#can#gain#control#of#a#particular#cognitive#blind#spot.#They#can#hide#their#
machinations#behind#a#veil#of#apparent#clarity.#
Here’s#another#way#to#put#it:#the#moment#when#we#come#to#understand#often#has#a#par-
ticular#feel#to#it# —# what# some#philosophers#have# called# the# “a-ha!”#moment.#The#moment#
when#we#come#to#understand,#says#Alison#Gopnik,#is#something#like#an#intellectual#orgasm#

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(Gopnik,#1998).#And,#as#John#Kvanvig#suggests,#it#is#our#internal#sense#of#understanding#—#
our#sense# of# “a-ha!”# and# “Eureka!”# —# that# provides# a#sense# of# closure# to# an# investigation#
(Kvanvig,#2011,#88).# The# “a-ha”#feeling#is#both#pleasurable#and#indicates# that#a#matter#has#
been#investigated# enough.# If,#then,# hostile# forces#can# learn# to#simulate# that# “a-ha”# feeling,#
then#they#will#have#a#very#powerful#weapon#for#epistemic#manipulation.#
I#offer#two#sustained#case#studies#of#cognitive#subversion#through#the#seductions#of#clar-
ity.#First,#I#will#look#at#the#sorts#of#belief#systems#often#promulgated#by#moral#and#political#
echo#chambers,#which#offer#simplistic#pictures#of#a#world#full#of#hostile#forces#and#conspiracy#
theories.#Such#belief#systems#can#create#an#exaggerated#sense#of#clarity,#in#which#every#event#
can#be#easily#explained#and#every#action#easily#categorized.#Second,#I#will#look#at#the#seduc-
tive#clarity#of#quantification.#I#borrow#my#use#of#“seduction”#from#Sally#Engle#Merry’s#40-&
2-5,6*+"()&".&7,$(*+.+6$*+"(#(2016),#a#study#into#how#global#institutions#deploy#metrics#and#
indicators#in#the#service#of#political#influence.#Merry#focuses#on#the#generation#of#indicators#
and#metrics#on#the#global#stage,#such#as#the#Human#Development#Index,#which#attempts#to#
sum#up#the#quality#of#life#across#each#country’s#entire#citizenship#in#a#single,#numerical#score.#
The#HDI#then#compiles#these#scores#to#offer#a#single#apparently#authoritative#ranking#of#all#
countries# by# their# quality# of# life.# Such# systems# of# quantification# can# offer# an# exaggerated#
sense#of#clarity#without#an#accompanying#amount#of#understanding#or#knowledge.#Their#cog-
nitive#appeal#can#outstrip#their#cognitive#value.#
It#is#striking#how#quantified# presentations# of&value# seem# to#have#a#profound# cognitive#
stickiness.# The# motivational# draw# of# quantified# values# has# been# well-documented# across#
many# terrains# (Porter# 1996;# Merry# 2016;# Espeland# and# Sauder# 2016).# This# motivational#

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power#is#why#so#many#companies#and#governments#have#become#interested#in#the#technol-
ogies# of# gamification.# Gamification# attempts# to# incorporate# the# mechanics# of# games# —#
points,#experience#points,#and#leveling#up#—#into#non-game#activities,#in#order#to#transform#
apparently#“boring”#activity#as#work#and#education#into#something#more#engaging,#compel-
ling,#and#addictive#(McGonigal#2011;#Walz#et#al#2015;#Lupton#2016).#I#am#worried,#however,#
that#gamification# might# increase#motivation,# but#only# at# the# cost# of#changing# our# goals#in#
problematic#ways.#After#all,#step#counts#are#not#the#same#as#health,#and#citation#rates#are#not#
the#same#as#wisdom#(Nguyen#2020,#189-215;#forthcoming).#The#seductions#of#clarity#are,#I#
believe,#one#important#mechanism#through#which#gamification#works.#
Let#me#be#clear:#the#present#inquiry#is#not#a#study#in#ideal#rationality,#nor#is#it#a#study#of#
epistemic#vice# and# carelessness.#It# is#a# study# in# the# vulnerabilities#of# limited,# constrained#
cognitive#agents,#and#how#environmental#features#might#exploit#those#vulnerabilities.#It#is#a#
foray#into#what#we#might#call#0")*+%-&-1+)*-3"%"8#.#Hostile#epistemology#includes#the#inten-
tional#efforts# of# epistemic# manipulators,# working# to# exploit# those# vulnerabilities# for# their#
own#ends.#We# might#call#the#study#of#these#intentional# epistemic#hostilities#6"39$*&-1+)*-:
3"%"8#;#Hostile#epistemology#also#includes#the#study#of#environmental#features#which#pre-
sent#a#danger# to#those#vulnerabilities,#made#without#hostile# epistemic#intent.#Hostile#envi-
ronments,#after#all,#don’t#always#arise#from#hostile#intent.#Hostile#environments#include#in-
tentionally#placed#minefields,#but#also#crumbling#ruins,#the#deep#sea,#and#Mars.#An#epistem-
ically#hostile#environment#contains#features# which,# whether# by# accident,# evolution,#or#de-
sign,#attack#our#vulnerabilities.##
I#will#focus#for#the#early#parts#of#this#paper#on#cases#of#combat#epistemology.#I#think#this#
is#the#easiest#place#to#see#how#certain#sorts#of#systems#have#a#hostile#epistemic#function.#The#

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cases# of# intentionally# manufactured# hostile# environments# will# then# help# us# to# recognize#
cases#of# the# unintentional# formation# of# hostile# epistemic#environments.# Hostile# epistemic#
environments#can#arise#from#entirely#well-intentioned,#and#even#successful,#pursuits#of#other#
purposes.#A#culinarily#extraordinary#pastry#shop#also#presents#an#environment#hostile#to#my#
attempts#at#healthy#eating.#In#many#bureaucratic#cases,#as#we#will#see,#systems#of#quantifica-
tion#often#arise#for#very#good#reason:#to#efficiently#manage#large#and#complex#institutional#
data-sets,#or# to#increase# accountability# (Scott# 1998;# Perrow# 2014).# But# these# very# design#
features#also# make# them# into# epistemically# hostile# environment.# Because# of# the# magnetic#
motivational#pull#of#quantification,#the#very#features#which#render#them# good# for# efficient#
administration#also#functions#to#imbue#them#with#seductive#clarity.
1
#
Other#recent#inquiries#into#hostile#epistemology#include#discussions#of#epistemic#injus-
tice,#propaganda,#echo#chambers,#fake#news,#and#more#(Fricker,#2007;#Medina#2012;#Dotson#
2014;#Stanley,#2016;#Rini#2017;#Nguyen#2018b).#Importantly,#the#study#of#hostile#epistemol-
ogy#is#distinct#from#the#study#of#epistemic#vice.#The#study#of#the#epistemic#vices#—#such#as#
closed-mindedness,#gullibility,#active#ignorance,#and#cynicism#—#is#a#study#of#epistemically#
problematic#character# traits.# It# is# the# study# of#failings# in#the# epistemic# agents# themselves#
(Sullivan#and#Tuana#2007;#Proctor#and#Schiebinger#2008;#Cassam#2016;#Battaly#2018).#Hos-
tile#epistemology,#on#the#other#hand,#is#the#study#of#how#external#features#might#subvert#the#
1
!I!am!influenced!here!by!A.W.!Eaton’s!discussion!of!artifact!function,!which!draws!on!and!develops!Ruth!Milli-
kan’s!notion!of!function!(Millikan!1984,!Eaton!2020).!Eaton!argues!that!the!intent!of!an!artifact’s!designer!does!
not!determine!that!artifact’s!function.!She!suggests!a!more!evolutionary!model:!An!artifact!may!be!unintention-
ally!imbued!with!trait,!but!insofar!as!that!trait!is!selectively!reproduced!in!future!artifacts,!then!its!effect!is!part!
of!those!artifacts’!function.!So,!if!a!bureaucracy!generates!a!quantified!metric!for!accounting!purposes,!but!that!
quantified!metric!survives! and!is!reproduced!in!further! bureaucratic!systems!because!of!its! seductive!effect,!
then!the!seductiveness!is!part!of!those!systems’!function.!

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efforts#of#epistemic#agents.#Of#course,#vice#and#hostility#are#often#entangled.#Hostile#environ-
ments#press#on#our#vices#and#make#it#easier#for#us#to#fall#more#deeply#into#them.#But#vice#and#
hostility#represent#two#different#potential#loci#of#responsibility#for#epistemic#failure.#
This#all#might#just#seem#like#common#sense.#Of#course#people#are#drawn#to#oversimplifi-
cations;#what’s#new#in#that?#But#there#are#important#questions#here,#about#why#we’re#drawn#
to#oversimplification#and#how#culpable#we#are#for#giving#in#to#it.#Importantly,#many#theorists#
treat#our#interest#in#oversimplification#as#straightforwardly#irrational.#In#the#psychological#
and#social#sciences,#the#appeal#of#oversimplification#is#usually#explained#as#a#mistake#which#
can#be#understood# in#terms#of#individual#psychological#tendencies,#such#as# motivated#rea-
soning#or#the#undue#influence#of#the#emotions.#We#accept#oversimplifications,#it#is#thought,#
because#they#make#us#feel#smug,#they#comfort#us,#or#they#reinforce#our#sense#of#tribal#identity#
(Kahan#and#Braman#2006;#Sunstein#2017).#Similarly,#many#philosophical#accounts#treat#our#
susceptibility# to# oversimplification# as# a# problem#arising# wholly# from# an# individual’s# own#
personal#failures# of# character#–# from# their#epistemic# vices.# Quassim#Cassam,# for# example,#
tells#the#story#of#Oliver#the#conspiracy#theorist,#who#believes#that#9/11#was#an#inside#job.#
Says#Cassam,#there#isn’t#a#good#rational#explanation#for#Oliver’s#beliefs.#The#best#explanation#
is#a#failure#of#intellectual#character.#Oliver,#says#Cassam,#is#gullible#and#cynical;#he#lacks#dis-
cernment#(162-3).#
I#will#present#a#picture#that#is#far#more#sympathetic#to#the#seduced.#It#is#a#picture#in#which#
exaggerated# clarity# plays# upon# specific# structural# weaknesses# in# our# cognition.# As# cogni-
tively#limited#beings,#we#need#to#rely#on#various#heuristics,#signals,#and#short-cuts#to#manage#
the#cognitive#barrage.#But#these#strategies#also#leave#us#vulnerable#to#exploitation.#Seductive#

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clarity#takes#advantage#of#our# cognitive# vulnerabilities,# which#arise,#in#turn,#from#our#per-
fectly#reasonable#attempts#to#cope# with# the# world# using# our#severely#limited#cognitive#re-
sources.#And,# certainly,# the#pull# of# seductive#clarity# will# be# worse# if#we# give# in#to# various#
epistemic#vices.#And,#certainly,#once#we#realize#all#this,#we#will#want#to#act#more#vigorously#
to#secure#the#vulnerable#backdoors#to#our#cognition.#The#general#point,#however,#is#that#giv-
ing#into# the#seductions#of#clarity#isn’t# just#some#brute#error,#or#the#result#of#sheer# laziness#
and#epistemic#negligence.#Rather,#it#is#driven,#in#significant#degree,#by#systems#and#environ-
ments#which#function#to#exploit#the#cognitive#vulnerabilities#generated#by#the#coping#strate-
gies#of#cognitively#finite#beings.#
#
#
Clarity(as(thought-terminator(
#
I#have#been#speaking#loosely#so#far;#let#me#now#stipulate#some#terminology.#On#the#one#
hand,#there#are#epistemically#positive#states:#knowledge,#understanding,#and#the#like.#On#the#
other#hand,#there#are#the#phenomenal#states#that#are#connected#to#those#epistemically#posi-
tive#state.#These# are# the#-<1-=+-(6-)& of# being#in# an# epistemically#positive# state# —#like# the#
sense#of#understanding,#the#feeling#of#clarity.#Loosely:#understanding#is#our#successful#grasp#
of#parts#of#the#world#and#their#relationships,#and#the#sense#of#clarity#is#the#phenomenal#state#
associated#with# understanding.# For#brevity’s# sake,# let#me# use# the#terms# “clarity”#and# “the#
sense#of#clarity”#interchangeably,#to#refer#to#the#phenomenal#experience#associated#with#un-
derstanding.#I#do#not#mean#to#be#using#“clarity”#in#the#Cartesian#sense,#where#it#is#a#perfect#
guarantee#of#knowledge.#Clarity,#in#my#usage,#is#merely#an#impression#of#a#certain#kind#of#

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cognitive#success#—#what#J.D.#Trout#has#called#the#)-()-#of#understanding#(Trout#2002).#Clar-
ity#may#often# accompany#genuine#understanding,#but#it#is#by# no#means#a#perfect#indicator#
that#we# do,# in# fact,# genuinely# understand.#So#external# forces#can# exploit#the# gap#between#
genuine#understanding#and#the#feeling#of#understanding#–#that#sense#of#clarity.##
There#are#two#general#strategies#for#epistemic#manipulation.#There#is#-1+)*-3+6&+(*+3+5$:
*+"(:#the#strategy#of#trying#to#get#an#epistemic#agent#to#accept#something#by#making#them#
afraid#or#uncomfortable#to#think#otherwise.#There#is#also#-1+)*-3+6&)-5,6*+"(:#the#strategy#of#
manipulating#positive# cognitive#signals#to#get#an#epistemic#agent#to#accept#something.#The#
manipulation#of#clarity#is#a#form#of#epistemic#seduction.#It#is#the#attempt#to#use#our#own#cog-
nitive#processes#against#us,#whispering#pleasantly#all#the#while.#
How#might#clarity#seduce?#There#are#many#potential#pathways.#For#one#thing,#clarity#se-
duces#because# it#is#pleasurable.#But# for#the#remainder#of#this#discussion,#I’ll#focus#another,#
even#more#dangerous#feature:#that#the#sense#of#clarity#can#bring#us#to#end#our#inquiries#into#
a#topic#too#early.#This#possibility#arises#because#of#the#profoundly#quick-and-dirty#nature#of#
daily#decision-making.#We#are#finite#beings#with#limited#cognitive#resources.
2
#In#daily#life,#we#
need#to#figure#out#what#to#do:#where#to#spend#our#money,#who#to#vote#for,#which#candidate#
to#back.#We#face#a#constant#barrage#of#potentially#relevant#information,#evidence,#and#argu-
ment#—#far#more#than#we#could#assess#in#any#conclusive#manner.#So#we#need#to#figure#out#
the#best#way#to#allocate#our#cognitive#resources#while#leaving#most#of#our#investigations#un-
finished,#in#some#cosmic#sense.#
2
!Two!particularly!relevant!discussions!on!cognitive!limitation!and!epistemology!are!(Wimsatt!2007;!Dallman!
2017).!

9
When#practically#reasoning#about#the#messy#complexities#of#the#real#world,#we#are#un-
likely#to#arrive#at#any#conclusive#ground-floor,#where#we#can#know#with#any#certainty#that#
we’re#done.
3
#So,#for#everyday#practical#deliberation,#we#need#some#method#for#determining#
that#we’ve#thought#enough.$
4
#And#that#basis#often#needs#to#be#fast#and#loose,#to#cope#with#the#
fast#and#loose#manner#of#everyday#practical#deliberation.#We#need#some#basis#for#estimating#
that#our#understanding#is#probably#good#enough,#so#that#we#can#make#a#decision#and#move#
on.#We#need#something#like#a#heuristic#for#terminating#thought.#
Here,#then,#is#the#ruling#supposition#for#my#inquiry:#the#sense#of#clarity#is#one#of#the#sig-
nals#we#typically#use#to#allocate#our#cognitive#resources.#(I#do#not#claim#that#it#is#the#only#
signal,#though# I# do# claim#it# is# a#significant# one.)# We#often# use# our# sense#of# confusion# as#a#
3
!As!Elijah!Millgram! puts! it,! practical!reasoning! doesn’t! result! in! settled! arguments!to!finalized! conclusions.!
Practical!reasoning!produces!only!tentative!conclusions.!Practical!conclusions!are!always!open!to!defeat!from!
unexpected!angles,!and!new!forms!of!defeat!may!always!surprise!us!(Millgram!1997).!The!closest!we!can!get!to!
conclusiveness!is!to!think!that!a!certain!piece!of!practical!reasoning!seems!good!enough,!so!far!as!we!can!tell.!
And!even!if! you! reject! Millgram’s! view!and!believe!that!there!were!firm! practical! conclusions! that!we!might!
eventually!reach!—!surely,!finding!such!firm!conclusions!is!well!beyond!the!reach!of!most!human-scale!practical!
deliberation!in!everyday!circumstances.!
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!Very!little!has!been!written!on!how!we!decide!to!end!our!inquiries!in!practical!deliberation.!And!much!of!that!
work!has!focused,!not!on!fast-and-loose!daily!heuristics!for!terminating!inquiry,!but!on!when!we!can!conclu-
sively!terminate!inquiry.!See,! for! example,! Alan! Millar!and!Kvanvig’s!debate!about!whether! we! need! merely!
need!knowledge!to!conclusively!terminate!inquiry,!or!whether!we!need!to!reflectively!know!that!we!know!in!
order!to!terminate!inquiry!(Millar!2011;!Kvanvig,!2011).!Trout!himself!argues!that!the!“sense!of!understanding”!
—!that!“a-ha”!feeling!—!!is!not!of!particular!use!in!the!sciences!because!it!is!quite!vulnerable!to!cognitive!biases!
and!other!corrupting!psychological!influences.!In!Trout’s!terms,!the!mere!sense!of!understanding!doesn’t!grant!
us!what!we!really!want!in!science,!which!is!good!explanations.!We!have!other!ways!of!recognizing!good!expla-
nations,!far!more!accurate!than!mere!internal!feelings.!We!know!we!have!a!good!scientific!explanation!when!
our!scientific!model!makes!good!predictions.!We!should,!says!Trout,!therefore!largely!ignore!the!various!inter-
nal!signals!of!understanding,!which!will!simply!lead!us!astray.!We!should,!instead,!remain!firmly! fixed!on!the!
evidence!that!our!scientific!model!provides!good!explanations,!which!are!measured!in!the!usual!scientific!meth-
ods:!prediction,!testing,!and!the!like!(Trout!2002,!2017).!Notice,!however,!that!this!sort!of!approach!imagines!
the!relevant!epistemic!agents!to!be!cognitively!ideal!beings!with!essentially!unlimited!resources.!It!then!asks!
how!such! cognitive!beings!!should! go!about!getting!things! right!once!and!for!all.!And!that!might!be!the!right!
idealization!for!thinking! about! how! we! should!pursue!long-term!epistemic!projects! as! parts! of! intergenera-
tional!communities,!as!we!do!in!philosophy!and!science.!But!things!look!very!different!for!cognitively!limited!
beings!in!the!quick-and-dirty!of!day-to-day!decision-making.!Sometimes!we!might!be!able!to!adopt!some!meth-
odology!with!a!pre-established!threshold!for!terminating!thought.!Consider,!for!example,!the!cognitive!strategy!
of!satisficing:!taking!the! first! solution! which! crosses!some!pre-established!minimal!threshold! (Simon! 1956).!
But!what!do!we!do!when!we!aren’t!satisficing?!In!many!cases,!our!investigations!are!more!open-ended,!without!
any!sort!of!pre-established!minimal!threshold.!For!those!sorts!of!investigations,!we!need!some!heuristic!basis!
for!attentional!management.!

10
signal# that# we# need# to# keep# investigating,# and# our# sense# of# clarity# as# a# signal# that# we’ve#
thought#enough.
5
#Our#sense#of#clarity#is#a#signal#that#we#can#terminate#an#investigation.#When#
a#system#of#thought#seems#clear#to#us,#then#we#have#a#heuristic#reason#to#stop#inquiring#into#
it.
6
#
I’m#not#claiming#that#this#heuristic#is#a#necessary#part#of#all# practical# reasoning#–#only#
that#the#heuristic#is#currently#under#common#usage.#After#all,#heuristics#are#usually#contin-
gent#tendencies#and#not#necessary#parts#of#our#cognitive#architecture.#In#fact,#some#research#
suggests#that#we#can#slowly#change#the#heuristics#we#use#(Reber#and#Unkelbach#2010).#
Here’s#my#plan.#First,#we’ll#start#to#think#about#how#powerful#it#would#be#if#this#supposi-
tion#were#true,#and#there#were#such#a#pleasurable#and#thought-terminating#heuristic.#I’ll#look#
at#some#evidence#from#the#empirical#literature#on#cognitive#heuristics#that#supports#some-
thing#in#the#vicinity#of#my#supposition.#I’ll#show#how#the#supposition,#which#concerns#how#
we#use#our#feeling#of#understanding,#emerges#from#a#recent#discussion#in#the#philosophy#of#
science#about#the#nature# of# genuine#understanding.# Then,# I’ll#use#the# supposition# to# think#
about#what#sorts#systems#and#environments#might#successfully#exploit#the#sense#of#clarity.#
I’ll#dig#into#some#historical#and# sociological# literature# on# echo# chambers# and#on#the#social#
5
!My!discussion!here! heavily!borrows!structural!features!from! Elijah!Millgram’s!discussion!of!the! function!of!
boredom!and!interest!in!practical!reason!and!agency.!Millgram!argues!that!a!sense!of!interest!is!our!signal!that!
our!values!are!good!ones!for!us!to!have,!and!a!sense!of!boredom!is!our!signal!that!our!values!are!bad!for!us!to!
have,!so!we!should!change!them!(Millgram!2004).!
6
!As!far!as!I!know,!Justin!Dallman!offers!the!only!contemporary!account!of!how!our!cognitive!limitations!force!
us!to!manage!our!efforts!of!inquiry.!The!best!procedure!to!cope!with!cognitive!limitation,!he!says,!is!to!set!up!a!
priority!queue.! We! assign! priority! levels!to!our!various! outstanding! investigations,! and!then! we! proceed!in!
order!from!highest!priority!to!lowest!(Dallman!2017).!But!what!basis!do!we!have!for!assigning!priority!levels?!
To!put!my!suggestion!into!Dallman’s!terms,!we!need!some!heuristic!for!quickly!estimating!priorities,!and!our!
sense!of!clarity!functions!as!a!heuristic!basis!assigning!a!low!priority!to!its!investigation.!A!sense!of!clarity!can!
thus!terminate!a! line! of!inquiry!—!not! conclusively,! but! by! lowering! its! priority!below!the!barrage!of!other,!
more!pressing!matters.!

11
effect#of#simplistic#quantification.#The#supposition#will#turn#out#to#provide#a#unifying#expla-
nation#for#many#of#the#documented#effects#of#echo#chambers#and#quantification.#My# argu-
ment#in#favor#of#the#supposition,#then,#will#be#that#it#provides#a#unifying#explanation#for#var-
ious# observations# from# cognitive# science,# sociology,# and# history,# while#integrating#neatly#
with#a#standard#account#of#the#nature#of#understanding.#But#this#mode#of#argumentation#can#
only#render#the#supposition#a#plausible#hypothesis;#more#empirical#investigation#is#certainly#
called#for.#
#
#
Clarity(as(vulnerability(
#
Suppose,#then,#that#the#sense#of#clarity#plays#a#crucial#role#in#the#regulation#of#our#cogni-
tive#resources,#functioning#as#a#signal#that#we#can#safely#terminate#a#particular#line#of#inquiry.#
Obviously,#the#sense# of# clarity# can#come# apart# from# actual#full#understanding.
7
#It#must,# in#
order#for#it#to#play#a#heuristic#role#in#quick-and-dirty#daily#deliberation.
8
#In#order#to#know#
that#we#fully#understood#something,#we#would#need#to#conduct#an#exhaustive#and#thorough#
investigation.#The#sense#of#clarity#is#far#more#accessible#to#us,#so#we#can#use#it#to#make#rough#
estimates#about#whether#we’ve#inquired#enough.##
If#a#hostile#force#could#ape#such#clarity,#then#they#would#have#a#potent#tool#for#getting#us#
to#accept#their#preferred#systems#of#thought.#This#is#because#false#clarity#would#provide#an#
7
!For!an!in-depth!discussion!of!this!point,!see!Trout’s!discussion!of!the!gap!between!the!sense!of!understanding!
in!science,!and!actually!possessing!a!genuine!understanding!(Trout!2002).!There!is!a!useful!further!discussion!
in!(Grimm!2012,!106-109),!which!defends!Trout’s!claims!against!Linda!Zagzebksi’s!claim!that!we!always!know!
when!we!understand!(Zagzebski!2001,!247).!See!also!(Strevens!2013).!
8
!I!am!drawing!here!from!the!cognitive!science!literature!on!heuristics.!Key!relevant!moments!in!that!literature!
include!(Gigerenzer!and!Goldstein!1996;!Kahneman!2013).!

12
excellent#cover#for#intellectual#malfeasance.#A#sense#of#clarity#could#bring#us#to#terminate#our#
inquiry#into#something#before#we#could#discover#its#flaws.#It#would#be#something#like#an#in-
visibility#cloak#—# one#that#works#by#manipulating#our# attention.#Our#attention,#after#all,# is#
narrow.#We#barely#notice#what‘s#outside#the#focused#spotlight#of#our#attention.#We#can#make#
something#effectively#disappear#simply#by#directing#their#attention#elsewhere.
9
#One#way#to#
make# something# cognitively# invisible,# then,# is# by# making# it# signal# unimportance.# The# spy#
novelist#John#Le#Carre#—#who#had#actually#worked#in#British#intelligence#—#describes,#in#his#
novel#4+(>-=&4$+%"=&2"%5+-=&21#,#what#a#genuinely#effective#spy#looks#like.#They#aren’t#dashing#
and#handsome,#like#some#James# Bond# figure.# An# effective# spy#presents#as#entirely#normal,#
bland,#and#dull.#They#can#disappear#because#they#have#learned#to#magnify#the#signals#of#bor-
ingness.#Similarly,#the#techniques#of#stage#magic#involve#attentional#misdirection.#Stage#ma-
gicians#learn#to#signal#boringness#with#the#active#hand#while#directing#signals#of#interesting-
ness#elsewhere,#in#order#to#control#their#audience’s#attention.#The#sense#of#clarity#can#work#
in#an# analogous#strategy#of#attentional#misdirection.# An#epistemic#manipulator#who#wants#
us#to#accept#some#system#of#thought#should#imbue#that#system#with#a#sense#of#clarity,#so#that#
cognitive#resources#will# be# less#likely# to# be# directed#towards# it.# The#strategy#will# be# even#
more#effective#if#they#simultaneously#imbue#some#other#target#with#a#sense#of#confusion.#The#
confusing#object#seizes#our#attention#by#signaling#that#we#need#to#investigate#it,#which#makes#
it#easier#for#the#clear-seeming#system#to#recede#into#the#shadows.#The#manipulator#can#thus#
9
!The!locus!of!the!modern!discussion!of!this!sort!of!attentional!blindness!is!in!Christopher!Chabris!and!Daniel!
Simons’s!influential!experiments,!including,!famously,!an!experiment!where!half!of!the!study!subjects!failed!to!
notice!a!person!in! a!gorilla!suit!walking!across!a!room,!and!pounding!their!chest,!when!the!subjects!were! in-
structed!to!perform!a!relatively!simple!counting!task!(Chabris!and!Simons!2011).!

13
gain#control#of#their#target’s#attention#by#manipulating# their#targets’#priority#queue#for# in-
vestigation.##
Thus,#hostile#forces#can#manipulate#the#cognitive#architecture#of#resource-management#
in#order#to#bypass#the#safeguards#provided#by#the#various#processes#of#cognitive#inquiry.#In#
the#movies,#the#crooks#are#always#hacking#the#system#which#controls#the#security#cameras.#
Epistemic#criminals#will#want#to#hack#the#cognitive#equivalent.##
#
#
Ease(and(fluency(
(
The#experience#of#clarity#is#complex#and#its#phenomenal#markers#many.#Let’s#start#with#
a#case#study#in#one#small#and#simple#aspect#of#clarity#—#one#which#has#been#relatively#well-
studied#in#the#psychological#sciences.#Consider#the#experience#of#cognitive#ease#—#the#rela-
tive#degree#to#which#it#is#easy#to#think#about#something.#In#the#literature#on#cognitive#heu-
ristics,#cognitive#ease#is#part#of#the#study#of#“cognitive#fluency”,#which#is#the#“subjective#ex-
perience#of#ease#or#difficulty#with#which#we#are#able#to#process#information”#(Oppenheimer#
2008,#237).#Research#has#demonstrated#that#we#do,#in#fact,#often#use#fluency#as#a#cognitive#
heuristic.#If# we# comprehend# an# idea# easily,# we# will# be#more# likely#to# accept# it.# # Cognitive#
difficulty,#on#the#other#hand,#makes#it#more#likely#that#we#will#reject#an#idea.#This#heuristic#is#
not#entirely#unreasonable:#we#often#experience#cognitive#ease#in#a#domain#precisely#because#
we#have# a#lot#of#experience#with#it.#Cognitive#ease#often#correlates#with# experience,#which#
correlates#with#skill#and#accuracy.#But,#obviously,#ease#is#separable#from#accuracy.#Studies#
have#demonstrated#that#one’s#mere#familiarity#with#an#idea#makes#one#more#likely#to#accept#

14
it.#Familiarity#creates#a#sense#of#cognitive#ease,#but#without#the#need#for#any#relevant#skill#or#
expertise.#Studies#have#also#shown#that#we#are#more#likely#to#believe#something#written#in#a#
more#legible#font.#Legibility#leads#to#easier#processing,#which#leads#to#readier#acceptance.#In#
other#words:#we#are#using#our#cognitive#ease#with#some#proposition#or#domain#as#a#heuristic#
for#our#accuracy#with#that#proposition#or#domain.#Rolf#Reber#and#Christian#Unkelbach#have#
argued#that#fluency#heuristics#are,#in#fact,#often#quite#useful.#Through#a#Bayesian#analysis,#
they#conclude# that#fluency#is#a#good#heuristic#when#the#user’s#environment#contains#more#
true#propositions#than#false#ones#—#and#the#better#the#ratio#of#true#to#false#propositions#in#
their#environment,#the#better#the#fluency#heuristic#will#work#(Reber#and#Unkelbach#2010).##
But#that#heuristic#can#be#gamed.
10
#
Suppose#that#the#usual#fluency#heuristic#is#in#place.#How#might#it#be#exploited?#To#game#
the# fluency# heuristic,# a# manipulator# would# want# to# offer# their# targets# ideas# expressed# in#
some#familiar#manner,#by#using#well-worn#patterns#of#thought#and#forms#of#expression.#This#
exploitative#methodology#should#be#quite#familiar:#it#explains#the#rhetorical#power#of#cliched#
slogans#and#Internet#memes.#
Suppose# that# the# world# has# many# such# epistemic# manipulators# in# it,# and# has# become#
chock#full#of#misleading#ideas#that#have#been#engineered#to#seem#familiar.#Our#best#strategy#
to#avoid#manipulation#would#be#to#update#our#heuristics#to#close#off#this#cognitive#backdoor.#
As#Reber#and#Unkelbach#showed,# we# are# capable# of#changing#and#updating#our# heuristics#
when# we# received# evidence#that# they# have# lead# us# astray.# The#manipulators,#then,# would#
want#to#mask#from#us#any#evidence#that#our#use#of#the#fluency#heuristic#was#leading#us#astray.#
10
!Trout!makes!a!similar!point!about!fluency!and!the!sense!of!understanding!(Trout!2017),!although!his!concern!
is!largely!with!attacking!other!accounts!of!understanding,!and!not!providing!a!full!picture!of!exploitation.!I!take!
myself!to!be!filling!in!the!details!of!his!suggestion.!

15
This#is,#however,#easier#to#do#in#some#domains#than#others.#Some#epistemic# domains#have#
obvious#litmus#tests.#It# is# easy#to#check#for#mistaken#reasoning#in#them#because# successes#
and#failures#are#obvious#to#any#onlooker.#For#example,#we#can#tell#that#our#theory#of#bridge-
building#has#gone#wrong#corrupted#if#our#new#bridges#keep#falling#down.#But#other#epistemic#
domains#have#no#such#easy#litmus#tests#—#like#the#moral#and#aesthetic#domains.#If#one’s#rea-
soning#has#been#systematically#subverted#in#such#a#subtle#domain,#there#is#no#obvious#error#
result#that#could#function#as#a#check.
11
#So#if#manipulators#wanted#to#gain#control#via#the#flu-
ency#heuristic,#one#good#strategy#would#be#to#perform#their#fluency-manipulations#over,#say,#
claims#about#morality# and# value.#Alternatively,#they#may#want#to#devote#their# fluency-ma-
nipulations#to#complex#and#diffuse#social#phenomena#or#more#esoteric#scientific#phenome-
non.#Some#empirical#claims#cannot#be#straightforwardly#checked#by#the#layperson,#such#as#
scientific#arguments#for#climate#change#or#sociological#claims#how#oppression#perpetuates.#
If#the#manipulators’#targets#have#been#given#a#seductively#clear#explanation#which#dismisses,#
say,#sociologists#and#climate#change#scientists#as#corrupt,#those#explanations#will#be# quite#
hard#to#dislodge.#Most# targets# will# be#unable#to#see#that#they#have#been# led# astray,#and#so#
won’t#update#their#heuristics#(Nguyen#2018b;#Nguyen#2018c).##
#
#
Aping(understanding(
#
Perhaps#it#seems#implausible#to#you#that#somebody#would#terminate#a#really#important#
inquiry#just#because#of#fluency.#There#is,#however,#another#much#more#sophisticated#form#of#
11
!For!an!extensive!discussion!of!litmus!tests!and!expert-vetting,!see!Nguyen!(2018a).!!

16
epistemic# seduction# which# will# more# plausibly# trigger# the# thought-terminating# function.#
Hostile#epistemic#manipulators# can#try#to#imitate,#not#just# ease,#but#a#full#.--%+(8#of#under-
standing.#They#can#present#the#phenomena#associated#with#a#positive#and#rich#experience#of#
clarity.###
In#order#to#see#how#one#might#fake# the#feeling#of#understanding,#let’s# start#by#thinking#
about#the#nature#of#genuine#understanding.#For#that,#let’s#turn#to#a#recent#discussion#of#the#
nature#of#understanding#in#the#philosophy#of#science.#According#to#a#recent#strand#of#think-
ing,#knowledge#isn’t#actually#the#primary#goal#of#much#of#our#epistemic#efforts.#Knowledge#is#
usually#conceived#of#as#something#like#the#possession#of#true#facts.#Having#knowledge,#by#the#
usual#accounts,#doesn’t#require#any#particular#integration#of#those#facts.#But#many#of#our#in-
tellectual# efforts# are# aimed# at# getting# something# more# than# just# knowing# some# disparate#
facts.#We#aim#at#something#more#holistic:#understanding.#The#precise#nature#of#understand-
ing#is#still#under#some#debate,#but#we#can#extract#some#common#and#largely#uncontroversial#
ideas.
12
#First,#when#we#understand#something,#we#not#only#possess#a#lot#of#independent#facts,#
but# we# see# how# those# facts# connect.# Understanding# is# of# a# system;# it# involves# grasping# a#
structure#and#not#just#independent#nodes.#Second,#when#we#understand#something,#we#pos-
sess#some#internal#model# or# account# of# it#which#we#can# use# to# make#predictions,#conduct#
12
!Much!of!the!debate!in!that!literature!has!turned!on!what!is!constitutive!of!understanding,!and!what!is!merely!
typically!associated!with!understanding.!For!example,!according!to!Steven!Grimm!and!Henk!de!Regt,!the!skill!
of!practical!application!is!partially!constitutive!of!understanding!(Grimm!2006;!de!Regt!2009;!Wilkenfeld!2013,!
2017).!Michael!Strevens,!on! the!other!hand,!denies!this! constitutive! relationship;! skill! typically! follows!from!
understanding,!but!isn’t!constitutive!of!it!(Strevens!2013).!Note!that!we!don’t!need!to!resolve!debates!like!this!
for!the!current!inquiry.!Since!we’re!interested!what!signs!are!associated!with!understanding,!we!don’t!really!
need!to!distinguish!carefully!between!what!is!constitutive!of!understanding,!and!what!follows!from!it.!Finally,!
Kareem!Khalifa!has!argument!that!these!accounts!of!understanding!can!be!reduced!to!the!idea!of!knowing!an!
explanation!(Khalifa!2012).!My!account!here!should!be!compatible!with!Khalifa’s!view!–!though,!in!his!language,!
I!would!be!talking!about!faking!the!feel!of!knowing!an!explanation.!!

17
further#investigations,#and#categorize#new#phenomena.
13
#
That#is#an#account#of#what#it#means#to#actually#0$?-&an#understanding.#So#what#are#the#
experiential#phenomena#$))"6+$*-5&@+*0#understanding?#What#does#it#.--%#like#to#understand#
something?#There#are#several#distinct#phenomena#to#consider#here.#First,#there#are#the#ex-
periences#associated#with#6"3+(8&*"&,(5-=)*$(5.#As#Catherine#Elgin#puts#it,#when#we#come#
to# understand,# our# way# of# looking# at# things# suddenly# shifts# to# accommodate# new# infor-
mation.#Understanding,#she#says,#“comes#not#through#passively#absorbing#new#information,#
but#through#incorporating#it#into#a#system#of#thought#that#is#not,#as#it#stands,#quite#ready#to#
receive#it”#(Elgin# 2002,#14).#When#we#come#to# understand,#our#system#of#thought#changes#
and# pieces# of# information# that# we# could# not# accommodate# before# suddenly# find# a# place.#
Kvanvig#offers#a#similar#account:#to#understand,#he#says,#is#to#grasp#a#coherence#relationship.#
It#is#to#be#aware#of#how#the#information#fits#together#(Kvanvig#2003,#202).#The#experience#of#
coming#to#understand,#then,#involves#an#experience#of#grasping#a#new#and#improved#coher-
ence.#Let#us#call#this#the#phenomenon#of#6"8(+*+?-&-1+10$(#.#And,#as#Gopnick#points#out,#cog-
nitive#epiphanies#are#incredibly#pleasurable.##
Next,#there#are#phenomena#associated#with#0$?+(8&$(&,(5-=)*$(5+(8.#Understanding#in-
volves#a#certain#facility#with#the#terrain.#As#Kvanvig#puts#it,#
…To!have!mastered!such!explanatory!relationships!is!valuable!not!only!because!it!involves!the!finding!
of!new!truths!but!also!because!finding!such!relationships!organizes!and!systematizes!our!thinking!on!
a!subject!matter!in!a!way!beyond!the!mere!addition!of!more!true!beliefs!or!even!justified!true!beliefs.!
Such!organization!is!pragmatically!useful!because!it!allows!us!to!reason!from!one!bit!of!information!to!
13
!This!discussion!constitutes! a! fast-growing! literature.! I! am! particularly! influenced! by! Catherine! Elgin’s! ac-
count,!Stephen!Grimm’s! useful! survey,!and! Michael!Strevens’!and!Michael!Patrick!Lynch’s!discussions!(Elgin!
2002,!2017;!Grimm!2012,!Strevens!2013;!Lynch!2018).!

18
another!related!information!that!is!useful!as!a!basis!for!action,!where!unorganized!thinking!provides!
no!such!basis!for!inference.!Moreover,!such!organized!elements!of!thought!provide!intrinsically!satis-
fying!closure! to! the!process!of!inquiry,! yielding!a!sense!or! feeling! of!completeness!to!our! grasp!of!a!
particular!subject!matter.!(202)!
When#we#understand#a#cognitive#terrain,#we#can#move#between#its#nodes#more#quickly#
and#easily.#We#can#use#our#understanding#to#easily#and#powerfully#generate#relevant#expla-
nations.#And#if#our#understanding#is#fecund,#these#new#explanations#will#serve#to#create#even#
more#useful#connections.# And,# as# Michael#Strevens#says,# having# an# understanding#also#in-
volves#having#the#capacity#to#communicate#that#understanding#—#to#explain#to#how#the#con-
nections#work#(Strevens#2013).#Let’s#call#all#these#the#phenomena#of#6"8(+*+?-&.$6+%+*#;
14
#And,#
at#least# in#my#own#experience,#the#pleasure#of#clarity#lies#not#only#in#Gopnick’s#moment#of#
coming#to# understand,# but#also# in# the#continuing# joys#of# apparent#facility# and# intellectual#
power.#It#feels# incredibly# good#to# be# able# to#swiftly# explain# complex#phenomena.# It# is# the#
pleasure#of#engaging#our#skills#and#capacities#to#powerful#effect.
15
#
Let’s#enter#into#the#mindset#of#the#hostile#epistemic#manipulator.#Our#goal#is# to#seduce#
with#apparent#clarity#—# to# game# other#people’s#cognitive#processes#and#heuristics#so#that#
they#will#accept#our#preferred#system#of#thought.#We’ll#want#to#engineer#that#system,#then,#
to#create#the#feeling#of#cognitive#epiphany.#We’ll#want#to#maximize,#for#our#system’s#adopters,#
the#sense#that#unexplained#information#is#sliding#into#place,#the#feeling#of#newfound#coher-
ency.#So#we’ll#want#to#give#the#system#easy-to-apply#categorizations#which#are#readily#con-
nected#into#a# coherent# network.# And,#once#that# system# has# been#adopted,#we’ll# want# it# to#
create# the# feeling# of# cognitive# facility.# We’ll# want# to# engineer# it# so# that,# once# somebody#
14
!I!owe!my!framing!to!Laura!Callahan’s!(2018,!442)!useful!discussion!of!understanding.!
15
!For!more!on!the!aesthetic!pleasure!of!one’s!own!skillful!action,!see!Nguyen!(2020,!101-120).!

19
adopts#the#system,#thinking#in#its#terrain#will#seem#distinctly#easier#and#more#effective#than#
before.#We’ll# want#it# to# give# adopters# a# heightened# sensation#of# forming#connections# and#
moving#easily#between#them.#We’ll#want#it#to# create#the#impression#of#explanatory# power,#
quickly#and#easily#explaining#any#new#phenomena#that#come#up.#And#we#would#want#to#do#
all#that#while#simultaneously#masking#its#epistemic#faults.##
This#might#seem#like#an#overwhelmingly#difficult#task#for#the#aspiring#manipulator.#We#
manipulators,#however,#have#some#very#significant#advantages.#First,#we#don’t#need#to#suc-
cessfully#imitate#understanding#all#the#way#down.#We#simply#need#for#our#system#to#trigger#
the# clarity# heuristic# early# enough,# before# its# adopters# stumble# across# any# of# the# flaws.# If#
you’re#building#a#Potemkin#village,#you#don’t#need#to#actually#build#any#actual#houses.#You#
just#need#to#build#the#facades#—#so#long#as#those#facades#convince#people#not#to#try#and#enter#
the#buildings.# We#manipulators,#then,#can#hide#our#system’s#weakness#and#inferior#perfor-
mance#behind#a#veil#of#apparent#clarity.
16
#
But#our#most#significant#advantage#is#that#we#are#unburdened#by#the#constraints#of#truth#
in#engineering#our#extra-tasty#system#of#thought.#Epistemically#sincere#systems#—#that#is,#
systems#of#thought#generated#for#the#sake#of#real#knowledge#and#genuine#understanding#—#
are#heavily#constrained#by#their#allegiance#to#getting#things#right.
17
#We#manipulators#are#un-
bound#by#any#such#obligations.#We#are#free#to#tweak#our#system#to#maximize#its#appealing#
clarity.#This#is#similar,#in#a#way,#to#how#unhealthy#restaurants#are#free#to#appeal#more#directly#
to#our#sense#of#deliciousness,#because#they#are#freed#from#considerations#of#health.#(Or,#at#
16
!This!strategy!exploits!a! cognitive! error! of!over-weighting!early!evidence.!For!a!discussion!of!why! this! is! a!
cognitive!error,!see!Kelly!(2008).!For!an!application!of!that!discussion!to!conspiracy!theories!and!echo!cham-
bers,!see!Nguyen!(2018b).!
17
!Elgin!(2017)!defends!the!use!of!idealizations!and!non-truths!as!parts!of!the!models!that!help!us!to!understand.!
However,!the!choice!of!models!is!still!driven!by!an!orientation!towards!getting!the!world!right,!in!a!more!holistic!
way.!

20
least,#that’s#how#my#mother#saw#it.)#We#manipulators,#then,#can#optimize#our#system#to#offer#
the#sense#of#easily#made#connection#and#explanations.#We#can#build#a#cartoon#of#understand-
ing.#And#that#cartoon#will#have#a#competitive#advantage#in#the#cognitive#marketplace.#It#can#
be#engineered#for#the#sake#of#pleasure,#and#it#will#carry#with#it#a#signal#that#inquiry#is#finished,#
and#that#we#should#look#elsewhere.##
#
(
Two(systems(of(cognitive(seduction(
#
Let’s#look#at#two#case#studies#of#the#seductions#of#clarity:#echo#chambers#and#institutional#
quantification.#The#first#case#study#of#echo#chambers#will#strike#many,#I#suspect,#as#a#plausi-
ble#and#familiar#case#of#the#seductions#of#clarity.#The#discussion#of#quantification#may#prove#
more#surprising.#And#I#hope#that#the#differences#between#these#two#case#studies#will#help#us#
to#hone#in#on#the#phenomenon’s#more#general#qualities.#
Let’s#start#with#echo#chambers.#Most#social#scientists#and#journalists#use#the#terms#“echo#
chamber”#and#“epistemic#bubble”#synonymously.#But,#as#I’ve#argued,#if#we#look#at#the#original#
sources#of#these#terms,#we#find#two#very#different#phenomena.#An#epistemic#bubble#is#a#so-
cial#phenomenon#of#simple#omission.#It’s#bad#connections#in#your#information#network#–#like#
if#all#your#friends#on#Facebook#share#your#politics,#and#you#simply#never#run#across#the#ar-
guments#presented#by#the#other#side.#An#echo#chamber,#on#the#other#hand,#is#a#social#struc-
ture#which#discredits#all#outsiders.#When#you#are#in#a#bubble,#you#don’t&0-$=&the#other#side.#
When#you’re#in#an#echo#chamber,#you#don’t#*=,)*#the#other#side.#Echo#chambers#don’t#cut#off#

21
lines#of# communication#from#the#outside#world;#rather,#they#isolate#their#members#by#ma-
nipulating#their#members’#trust#(Nguyen#2018b).#
What#matters#for#the#present#study#is#the#particular#content#of#the#systems#of#thought#
which#echo#chambers#use#to#manipulate#trust.#I’m#drawing#here#on#Kathleen#Jamieson#and#
Joseph#Cappella’s#empirical#analysis#of#the#echo#chamber#around#Rush#Limbaugh#and#the#Fox#
News#ecosystem#(Jamieson#and#Cappella#2010).#According#to#Jamieson#and#Cappella,#Rush#
Limbaugh#offers#a#world-view#with#some#very#distinctive#features.#First,#Limbaugh#presents#
a#world#of#sharply#divided#forces#locked#in#a#life-or-death#struggle.#There#are#no#onlookers#
or#reasonable#moderates.#Either#you’re#a#Limbaugh#follower#—#and#so#on#the#side#of#right#—#
or#you#are#one#of#the#malevolent#forces#out#to#undermine#the#side#of#right.#Limbaugh#then#
offers#an#explanatory#system#in#which#most#moral#and#political#action#can#be#understood#in#
terms#of#that#all-consuming#struggle.#Disagreement#with#Limbaugh’s#world#view#can#be#read-
ily#explained#as#the#product#of#some#organized,#malevolent#action#to#block#the#side#of#right.#
Most#importantly,#for#our#present#purposes,#the#undermining#function#and#the#explanatory#
function#are#often#accomplished#with#the#help#of#conspiracy#theories,#which#provide#a#ready#
explanation#for#disagreement#from#outsiders.#The#liberal#media#is#in#the#grip#of#a#nefarious#
network#of#elites,#as#are#universities,#and#the#academic#sciences.#These#conspiracy#theories#
offer#to#explain#complex#features#of#the#world#in#terms#of#a#single#coherent#narrative.#
This#is#an#obvious#deployment#of#the#seductions#of#clarity.#First,#Limbaugh’s#world-view#
offers#the#sensations#of#epiphany.#Once#his#world-view#is#accepted,#difficult-to-categorize#ac-
tions#suddenly#become#easily#categorized.#Previously#hard-to-explain#facts#—#like#the#exist-
ence#of#substantive#moral#disagreement#between#apparently#sincere#people#—#suddenly#be-
come#easily#explicable# in# terms#of#a#secret#war#between#good#and# evil.# Second,#the#world-

22
view# offers# the# sensations# of# cognitive# facility.# The# conspiracy# theory# offers# a# ready# and#
neatly#unified#explanation#for#all#sorts#of#behavior.#And#those#explanations#are#easy#to#create.#
The#world#suddenly# becomes# more#intellectually#manageable.# This# is#particularly#vivid# in#
some#of#communities#around#the#wilder#conspiracy#theories.#CNN#recently#conducted#some#
quite#telling# interviews#with# some# members# of# the# fast-growing# community# of# Flat# Earth#
conspiracy#theorists.#Many#theorists#describe#the#satisfactions#of#being#a#Flat#Earth#theorist#
in#in#terms# of#cognitive#facility.#As#Flat#Earth#theorist# and# filmmaker#Mark#Sargent#puts#it,#
"You#feel#like#you've#got#a#better#handle#on#life#and#the#universe.#It's#now#more#manageable.”#
And#Flat# Earth# theorist# David#Weiss# says,# “When#you# find# out#the# Earth# is# flat…#then# you#
become#empowered”#(Picheta#2019).##
Furthermore,#well-designed#echo# chambers# typically# have#systems#of# belief# which#can#
reinterpret#incoming#evidence#in#order#to#avoid#refutation.#For#example,#many#echo#cham-
bers# include# sweeping# scientific# claims,# such# as# denying# the# existence# of# climate# change.#
Echo#chamber#members#may#have#adopted#belief#systems#with#the#help#of#the#clarity#heuris-
tic.#But,#one#might#think,#heuristics#are#defeasible#—#and#contrary#scientific#evidence#should#
surely#bring#members#to#abandon#their#settled#acceptance#of#their#belief#system.#However,#a#
clever#echo#chamber#can#preemptively#defuse#such#contrary#evidence.#A#well-designed#echo#
chamber#can#include,#in#its#belief#system,#a#conspiracy#theory#about#how#the#media#and#the#
institutions#of#science#were#entirely#corrupt#and#in#the#grip#of#a#vast#malicious#conspiracy.#
This#explanation#performs#a#kind#of#intellectual#judo.#As#Endre#Begby#(2020)#points#out,#such#
a#belief#system#transforms#apparently#contrary#evidence#into#confirmations#of#the#belief#sys-
tem#—#a#process#which#he#calls#“evidential#pre-emption”.#If#Limbaugh#predicts#that#the#lib-

23
eral#media#will#accuse#him#of#falsifying#information,#then#when#his#followers#hear#such#accu-
sations#from#the#liberal#media,#they#will#have#reason#to#increase#their#trust#in#Limbaugh#—#
since#his#predictions#have#been#fulfilled!#But#notice#that#there#is#a#secondary#effect,#beyond#
the#simple#confirmation#Begby#describes#—#an#effect#that#arises#from#the#seductions#of#clar-
ity.#The#belief#system#makes#it#easy#to#create#an#explanation#for#incoming#contrary#evidence#
and#to#provide#explanations#that#unify#and#connect#that#event#with#many#others.#This#pro-
vides#an#experience#of#cognitive#facility#—#which#should#trigger#the#clarity#heuristic.#This#is#
an#extremely#well-designed#epistemic#trap,#in#which#contrary#evidence#triggers#two#different#
defense#mechanisms.#First,#the#conspiracy#theory#preemptively#predicts#the#presence#of#con-
trary#evidence,#and# so# confirms# itself#in# the# process# of#dismissing#that# contrary# evidence.#
Second,#the#ease#with#which#the#conspiracy#theory#performs#that#prediction#and#dismissal#is#
an#experience#of#cognitive#facility#—#which#creates#the#sense#of#clarity,#which,#in#turn,#trig-
gers#the#thought-terminating#heuristic.##
Such#defensive#conspiracy#theories# are# an# obvious#case#of#the#seductive,# manipulative#
use#of#clarity.#Let’s#now#turn#to#a#less#obvious#case.#Consider#the#appeal#of#quantified#systems.#
Consider,#especially,#the#way#in#which#large-scale#institutions#try#to#reduce#complex,#value-
laden#qualities#to#simple#metrics#and#measures.#In#4=,)*&+(&A,39-=)B&a#history#of#the#culture#
of#quantification,# Theodore#Porter#notes#that#quantified#systems#are#powerfully#attractive.#
This#is#why,#he#says,#politicians#and#bureaucrats#love#to#cite#the#authority#of#quantified#sys-
tems#of#analysis.#Numbers,#he#says,#smell#of#science.#They#have#the#ring#of#objectivity,#and#so#
they#will#be#used#in#inappropriate#circumstances#in#attempts#to#gain#political#control#(Porter#
1996,#8).#I#think#Porter#is#entirely#right#about#the#credibility#advantage#of#numbers#and#their#
scientific#feel#—#but#I#don’t#think#this#is#the#whole#story.#The#details#of#his#study#offer#us#the#

24
opportunity#to#build#a#second#account#of#the#appeal#of#numbers,#alongside#his#credibility#ac-
count,#in#terms#of#the#seductions#of#clarity.##
There#are,#says#Porter,# qualitative# ways# of# knowing#and#quantitative#ways#of#knowing.#
Porter#is#not#here#making#the#crude#claim#that#quantitative#ways#of#knowing#are#inherently#
bad.#Rather,# he# is# interested# in# the# relative# advantages#and# disadvantages# of# each# way# of#
knowing.#Qualitative#ways#of#knowing,#he#says,#are#typically#nuanced,#sensitive,#and#rich#in#
contextual#detail,#but#they#are#not#portable#or#aggregatable.#When#we#transition#to#from#qual-
itative#to#quantitative#ways#of#knowing,# we# strip# out# much#of#the#nuance#and#many#of#the#
contextual#details.# In# return# for# this# loss# of# informational# richness,#we# get# to# express# our#
knowledge# in# neat# packages:# in# the# form# of# numbers,# whose# meanings# are# portable,# and#
which#can#be#easily#aggregated#with#other#numerical#results.#This#can#be#very#valuable.#Ob-
viously,#quantification#is#vital#for#modern#science.#And#there#are#many#administrative#func-
tions#which#quantification#makes#far#more#efficient.#But,#says#Porter,#contemporary#culture#
seems#to#have#lost#sight#of#the#distinctive#value#of#qualitative#ways#of#knowing.#We#tend#to#
reach#for#quantitative#ways#of#knowing#compulsively,#even#when#they#aren’t#most#appropri-
ate#for#the#task#at#hand.#
In#40-&2-5,6*+"()&".&7,$(*+.+6$*+"(,#Merry#applies#Porter’s#analysis# to#the#recent#rise#of#
quantified# metrics# in# international# governance.# She# is# interested# in# +(5+6$*"=)# —# simple,#
quantified#representations#of#complex#global#phenomena.#One#indicator#is#the#UN’s#Human#
Development#Index,#which#gives#countries#a#single#score#for#their#performance#in#supporting#
the#quality#of#life#of#their#citizens.#Another#indicator#is#the#US#State#Department’s#4=$..+6>+(8&
+(&/-=)"()&!-1"=*),#which#gives#countries#a#score#on#their#performance#in#reducing#sex#traf-

25
ficking.#Indicators# present# themselves# in# the# form# of# a# single,# easy-to-use,# easy-to-under-
stand#numerical# score.# These#indicators,# she# says,#hide# the# complexity#and# subjectivity# of#
their#manufacture.# And#that# concealment# is# much# of# the# point.# # Their# power,# says# Merry,#
comes#in#significant#part#from#their#appearance#of#unambiguity.#And#once#these#indicators#
have#been#manufactured,#they#invariably#become#central#in#various#governments’#and#poli-
ticians’#decision-making# processes.# The#very# qualities# which# make# them# so# powerful#also#
make#them#blunt#instruments,#missing#in#much#subtlety#and#detail.#But,#says#Merry,#they#are#
incredibly#hard#to#dislodge#from#the#minds#of#the#public#and#of#policy-makers#(Merry#2016,#
1-43,#112-60).#
Why#are#quantifications#so#sticky?#The#seductions#of#clarity#offer#an#explanation.#Quanti-
fied#systems#are,#by#design,#highly#usable#and#easily#manipulable.#They#provide#a#powerful#
experience#of#cognitive#facility.#It#is#much#easier#to#5"&*0+(8)#with#grades#and#rubrics#than#it#
is#with#qualitative#descriptions.# We# can# offer#justifications#(“I#averaged#it#according#to#the#
syllabus’#directives”;#“I#applied#the#rubric”).#We#can#generate#graphs#and#quantified#summar-
ies.#And# the# sense# of# facility# is# even# stronger# in# large-scale# institutions,# where# the# use# of#
numbers#has# been#stringently# regularized.#Because# of#the# portability# of# numbers# and# the#
constancy# and# enforced# regularity# of# typical# institutional# deliberation# procedures,# inside#
such#institutions,#it#is#vastly#easier#to#use#numbers#to#produce#powerful#and#effective#com-
munications.#And#they#are#communications#in#terms#which#we#know#will#be#,(5-=)*""5#and#
$6*-5&,1"(&—#because#the#meanings#and#uses#of#these#institutional#terms#has#been#so#ag-
gressively#regularized.#
In#a# university#for#which#I# once#worked,#all#departments# had#to#produce#yearly# assess-
ment#data#which#was#supposed#to#demonstrate,#in#quantitative#form,#the#quality#of#education#

26
that#our#students#had#received.#Our#assessments#results#had#to#be#coded#according#to#certain#
institutionally# specified# Educational# Learning# Outcomes# (ELOs).# So,# the# fact# that# our# stu-
dents#scored#well#this#year#in#their#critical#thinking#multiple#choice#tests#gets#coded#and#en-
tered#into#the#system.#Those#scores#now#support#our#claim#that#a#particular#class#succeeds#
in#supporting#certain#university-wide#learning:#the#Critical#Thinking#ELO,#the#Writing#Skills#
ELO,#the#Moral#Reflection#ELO#and#the#Mathematical#Reasoning#ELO.#And#the#data#for#each#
particular#class,#in#turn,#is#used#to#support#the#claim#that#our#department#as#a#whole#supports#
the#university-wide#learning#outcomes.#And#that#claim,#in#turn,#is#used#as#support#the#claim#
that#the# University# is# succeeding# in# its# mission,# and# achieving# its# stated# Core# Values:# like#
Communication,#Community,#and#Engagement.# And# the# way#in#which# class,# departmental,#
and#university#ELO’s# link# up#are# coded# explicitly# into#our# databasing# system,#so# that# new#
data#can#travel#automatically#up#the#chain.#When#I#enter#the#latest#batch#of#scores#from#my#
students,#it#produces#an#immediate#effect#into#the#system:#all#the#reported#ELOs#up#the#chain#
will#change.#And#this#is#possible#precisely#because#the#data#I’ve#entered#has#been#rendered#
portable#and#because#our#outcomes#reporting#system#has#been#set#up#to#automatically#take#
advantage#of#that#portability.#
Notice#that#all#this#gives#me#the#experience#of#an#enormous#amount#of#apparently#effec-
tive#cognitive#and#communicative#activity.#I#have#a#sense#of#grasping#connections.#I#can#see#
exactly#how#my#class’s#ELOs#support#my#department’s#ELOs,#which#in#turn#support#my#col-
lege’s#ELOs,#which# in# turn#support#the# university’s# ELOs#and,#in# turn,# the#University#Core#
Values.#And#my#grasp# of# this#system#can#give#me#a#certain#sense# of#cognitive#facility.#I#can#
easily#generate#explanations#of#course#content# and# generate# evidence# of# teaching#success.#
And#I# can# know#that# they# will# be# understood,#since# they# have# been# expressed#in#the# pre-

27
prepared,#standardized,#and#explicitly#interconnected#language#of#the#institution.#I#know#that#
my#justifications#will#be#incorporated#into#larger#institutional#aggregates,#because#my#justi-
fications#occur#in#those#intentionally#stabilized#terms.#And#I#know#that#when#I#give#justifica-
tions#in#those#designated#terms,#they#will#usually#generate#pre-specified#sorts#of#actions#—#
ones#which#I#can#usually#predict#with#some#success.#A#stabilized,#explicit#system#of#quantified#
and#systemized#institutional#value#is#designed#so#that#its#users#can#make#themselves#easily#
understood#and#their#pronouncements#quickly#integrated#into#institutional#systems#of#infor-
mation# processing# and# decision-making.# In# short,# by# using# the# provided# terms# of# institu-
tional#discourse#inside#the#institution,#my#speech#and#thinking#will#seem#clear,#precisely#be-
cause#they#fit#so#well#into#a#pre-established#network#of#communication#and#justification.#That#
pre-engineered#fit#creates#a#sense#of#cognitive#facility,#with#all#its#associated#pleasures.#And#
the# ring# of# clarity# can#trigger# the# thought-terminating# heuristic# in# others# who# have# also#
bought#into#the#provided#system#of#institutional#discourse#–#ending#inquiry#into#the#appar-
ently#clear#claim.##
Of#course,#I’ll#have#genuine#cognitive#facility#if#my#various#mental#efforts#actually# track#
real#elements#in# the# world# and#process#them# in# some# epistemically#valuable# way.# And,# as#
Charles#Perrow#and#Paul#Du#Gay#have#argued,#bureaucracies#certainly#need#regular#methods#
and#quantified#systems#in#order#to#function#and#to#administrate#fairly#(Du#Gay#2000;#Perrow#
2014).#The#worry,# though,# is#that#we#might#set#up#systems#that#are# useful# for#certain#very#
specific#data-collection#and#managerial#function#—##but#that#can#also#exert#a#magnetic#pull#
on#our#thinking#in#nearby#domains.#For#example:# GPAs#and#citations#rates#might# be#useful#
for#certain#particular#tasks#of#bureaucratic#administration.#But,#because#they#are#so#seduc-
tive,#students# and# scholars# may# start#using# them#as# the# primary# lens# through#which# they#

28
evaluate#their#own#education#and#output.
18
#And#surely#GPAs#are#not#perfect#indicators#of#a#
good#education,#and#citations#rates#are#not#perfect#indicators#of#good#scholarship.#A#particu-
lar#quantification#can# get# an# excess#grip#on#our#reasoning,#even#in#contexts#when#it#is# less#
appropriate,#by# presenting# an# appealing# sense# of# clarity.# And# we# will# fail# to# investigate#
whether#this#quantified#metric#is#the#most#appropriate#form#of#evaluation#to#use,#precisely#
because#its#clarity#terminates#our#investigations#into#its#appropriateness.#
So#far,#we’ve#been#concentrating#on#systems#of#thought#whose#contents#themselves#are#
seductively#clear.#But#the#seductions#of#clarity#can#also#affect#our#judgments#of#the#expertise#
and#authority#of#the#sources#of#those#contents.#The#seductions#of#clarity#can#get#us#to#accept#
a#system#by#making#its#users#and#authors#seem#more#credible#or#expert,#precisely#because#
they#seem#more#clear.#Recall#that#one#of#standard#signals#of#expertise#is#communicative#fa-
cility.# Non-experts# trust# purported# experts# when# those# experts# are# able# to# communicate#
their#understanding#—#when#the#purported#experts#can#explain#to#their#audiences#the#con-
nections#between#nodes,#generate#justifications,#and#the#like.#But#consider#what#happens#to#
the#appearance#of#communicative#facility#inside#a#bureaucratized#system#of#educational#as-
sessment.#Those#users#willing#to#express#themselves#in#the#designated#terms#of#that#system#
have#a#considerable#advantage#in#displaying#communicative#facility.#They#can#easily#generate#
justifications.#They#can#easily#make#their#reasons#and#requests#understood#and#acted#upon#
in#institutional#settings.#They# will# seem# clear# because#their#communication#will#be#readily#
taken#up#and#acted#upon.#Their#apparent#facility#will#seem#especially#impressive#to#outsiders,#
who#are#out#of#contact#with#the#subtler#values#involved#with#education.#This#is,#obviously,#a#
18
!I!offer!a!fuller!discussion!of!how!simplified!and!quantified!systems!of!value!can!give!their!adopters!the!game-
like!pleasures!of!value!clarity!in!Nguyen!(2020).!!

29
form#of#epistemic#injustice#(Fricker#2007).#Here,#it#is#a#form#of#epistemic#injustice#which#gives#
a#significant#credibility#advantage#to#anybody#willing#to#speak#in#the#terms#provided#by#bu-
reaucracies# and# institutions,# which# provide# regularized# systems# of# justification# and# lan-
guages#of#evaluation.#And#since#the#ability#to#create#and#disseminate#such#systems#is#usually#
held#by#those#already#in#power,#the#bureaucratization#of#language#will#typically#serve#to#am-
plify#power#differentials#by#granting#more#credibility#to#those#who#accept#those#bureaucratic#
terms#of#discourse.#
To#put#it#in#Kristie#Dotson’s#terms,#epistemic#oppression#occurs#when#agents#are#denied#
the#opportunity#to#use#shared#epistemic#resources#to#participate#in# knowledge#production#
(Dotson#2014).#Bureaucratic#and#institutionalized#language#can#enable#a#particular#kind#of#
epistemic#oppression.# Ideas# that# can# be#easily# expressed#in# the# institutional# language# are#
readily#entered#into#the#shared#knowledge#base.#But#the#standardization#of#language#puts#a#
special# oppressive# power# in# the# hands# of# whoever# creates# the#standardization.# Once# the#
standardization#is#in#place#and#widely#accepted,#anybody#who#uses#it#will#5-3"()*=$*-&6"8:
(+*+?-&.$6+%+*##and#5-3"()*=$*-&6"33,(+6$*+?-&.$6+%+*#;&They#will#)--3&6%-$=#precisely#because#
they#are#using#language#for#which#a#system#of#reception#has#been#pre-prepared.##
The#sense#of#clarity#is#a#terminator#for#inquiry,#and#ideas#expressed#in#that#regularized#
institutional#language#will#bear#that#sense#of#clarity.#So#ideas#expressed#in#that#language#are#
more#likely#to#be#accepted#without#question.#Information#that#isn’t#placed#into#institutional#
language,#on#the#other#hand,#will#tend#to#be#disappear.#Such#recalcitrant#expressions#will#be#
less#likely#to#be#accepted,#transmitted#and#remembered#within#the#system.#At#the#very#least,#
since#they#seem#confusing#rather#than#clear,#those#recalcitrant#expressions#will#be#subject#to#
constant#questioning#and#inquiry,# rather# than# quickly#accepted.#In#a# standardized# system,#

30
non-standardized#information# will# be#subject# to# incredible# friction.# This# creates# a# further#
competitive# disadvantage.# By# the# very# fact# that# such# information# transmits# slowly# and#
poorly,#the#information#and#its#authors#will#seem#to#have#less#communicative#facility#and#so#
seem#less#credible.#Those#whose#ideas#don’t#fit#comfortably#into#the#regularized#institutional#
language#are#at#a#significant#disadvantage#in#participating#in#the#production#and#dissemina-
tion#of#knowledge.##
#
#
Nuance(and(closure(
(
The#point#here#is#not#to#claim#that#quantified#systems#and#conspiracy#theories#are#always#
bad.#Science#and#bureaucracy#need#quantification,#and#we#certainly#should#accept#conspiracy#
theories#when#there#are#actually#conspiracies.
19
#The#point#is,#rather,#that#these#sorts#of#ideas#
and#methodologies#are#among#the#choicest#tools#for#epistemic#subversion.#A#ruthless#epis-
temic# manipulator,# freed# from# the# constraints# of# genuine# inquiry,# can# re-formulate# these#
sorts#of#systems#to#maximize#their#potential#for#seductiveness.#
And#this#also#offers#us#insights#into#unintentional#cognitive#seduction.#Bureaucracies#and#
institutions#have#very#good#reason#to#develop#internally#consistent#and#quantified#systems#
of#evaluation.#Such#systems#make#the#administration#of#complex#organizations#possible.#But#
insofar#as#such#systems#share#a#significant#number#of#the#traits#and#effects#as#those#systems#
19
!There!is!a! very! useful!discussion!of!the!occasional!usefulness! of! conspiracy! theories!in!(Coady!2012,!110-
137;!Dentith!2018,!2019).!

31
made#for#intentional#manipulation#—#and#especially#insofar#as#such#systems#perpetuate#be-
cause#of#their#seductive#effects#—#then#such#systems#also#function#as#seductively#clear.#
This#suggests#another#reason#to#resist#the#seductions#of#clarity.#Sometimes,#we#need#to#
dwell#in#unclear#systems#of#thought#because#we#have#not#yet#earned#the#right#to#clarity.#In#
her#study#of#metaphors,#Elizabeth#Camp#(2006)#suggests#that#metaphors#are#most#appropri-
ate#when#we#are#still#in#the#process#of#coming#to#understand.#Metaphors#are#unclear#by#de-
sign.#They#are,# says# Camp,#a#special#way#of#pointing#to# the# world.#We#define#simple#nouns#
through#simpler# forms# of#pointing.# “Red”# we#define# as# looking# like# *0$*.#Metaphors# let# us#
point#with#a#rough,#waving#gesture.#
The#reason#we#might#want#to#do#so,# says#Camp,#is#that#such#pointing# lets#us#access#the#
richness#of#the#world#in#our#talk.#When#I#say,#“I#don’t#understand#what’s#going#on#with#Robert#
very#much,#but#his#neurosis#seems#a#lot#like#Liza’s,”#I’m#not#using#some#well-defined#abstract#
predicate#to#describe#Robert.#I#am#pointing#to#Liza#and#to#all#the#rich#features#of#reality#that#
are#bound#up#with#her.#I#am#saying#that#I#don’t#know#what#it#is#about#Liza#that#matters,#ex-
actly,#but#it’s#something#over#there,#where#“there”#is#a#gesture#in#the#direction#of#all#the#rich-
ness#of#Liza’s#actual#self.#And#this#sort#of#vague#gesture#is#especially#useful,#says#Camp,#when#
we#are#trying#to#grapple#with#things#we#do#not#yet#adequately#understand.#With#metaphors,#
she#says,#we#are#gesturing#vaguely#at#part#the#worlds.#
Intentionally#and#openly#vague#forms#of#communication#are#very#important.#They#remind#
us#that#our#thinking#—#our#concepts,#our#inquiries,#our#understanding#—#is#not#yet#finished.#
Clarity#is#compelling,#but#signals#us#to#end#our#inquiries.#Seductively#clear#systems#mask#the#
fact#that#we#should,#in#fact,#be#confused,#and#should#be#pressing#on#with#our#inquiries.#They#

32
present#themselves#as#finalized.#On#the#other#hand,#metaphors#and#their#kin#wear#their#un-
finishedness#plainly#on#their#faces.#They#are#hard#to#use,#and#that#difficulty#reminds#us#that#
there#is#more#work#to#be#done.#They#leave#the#basement#door#open,#so#we#know#there#is#more#
to#explore#down#there.#When#clarity#seduces,#it#can#prevent#us#from#pushing#on,#from#finding#
and#dwelling#on#our#confusions.#Seductive#clarity#presents#us#with#a#false#floor#for#our#inves-
tigations#into#the#world.#
How#do#we#resist#the#seductions#of#clarity?#One#possible#defensive#strategy#is#to#develop#
new#counter-heuristics,#designed#to#sniff#out#the#seductive#manipulation#of#our#original#heu-
ristics.#Here’s#a#rough#analogy:#a#certain#kind#of#culinary#yumminess#was#once#a#decent#heu-
ristic#for#nutritious#eating.#But#our#nutritive#environment#changed,#especially#when#various#
corporate#forces#figured#out#our#heuristics#and#tendencies#and#started#to#aggressively#game#
them.#In# response,#we#have#had#to#adapt#our#heuristics.#We#have#needed#to#become#suspi-
cious#of# *""& 3,60& #,33+(-)).# Many# of# us# have# #already# trained# ourselves# to# notice# when#
things#are#just#a#little#too#delicious.#The#crunchy,#sweet,#salty#stuff#that#hits#us#just#so#—#we#
have#learned#to#taste#in#them#the#engineer’s#manipulative#touch.#We#have#developed#an#in-
tuitive#feel#for#designed#craveability.#This#is#a# counter-heuristic,# designed# to# trigger#in#re-
sponse#to#signals#that#outside#forces#are#trying#to#manipulate#our#more#primitive#heuristics.#
Sweetness,#crunchiness,#saltiness#—#our#counter-heuristic#makes#as#immediately#suspicious#
when#we#find#these#in#plenty.#
In#fighting#the#seductions#of#clarity,#we#need#to#develop#new#counter-heuristics#in#a#sim-
ilar#key.#The#sense#of#clarity#is#something#like#cognitive#sugar.#Once#upon#a#time,#using#our#
sense#of#clarity#as#a#signal#to#terminate#our#inquiries#might#have#been#a#good#and#useful#heu-
ristic.#But# now# we# live# in#an# environment# where# we# are#surrounded# by# seductive# clarity,#

33
much#of#it#designed#to#exploit#our#heuristics.#We#now#need#to#train#ourselves#to#become#sus-
picious#of#ideas#and#systems#that#go#down#just#a#little#too#sweetly#—#that#are#pleasurable#and#
effortless#and# explain# everything# so# wonderfully.# Systems# of# thought# that# feel# too# clear#
should#make#us#step#up#our#investigative#efforts#instead#of#ending#them.#We#need#to#learn#to#
recognize,#by#feel,#the#seductions#of#clarity.
20
#
#
#
#
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20
!I’d!like!to!thank,!for!all!their!help!with!this!paper,!Andrew!Buskell,!Josh!DiPaolo,!A.W.!Eaton,!Caitlin!Dolan,!Jon!
Ellis,!Melinda!Fagan,!Keren!Gorodeisky,!Arata! Hamakawa,!Rob! Hopkins,!Jenny!Judge,!Samantha!Matherne,!Jay!
Miller,!Stephanie!Patridge,!Antonia!Peacocke,!Geoff!Pynn,!Nick!Riggle,!David!Spurrett,!Madelaine!Ransom,!Jonah!
Schupbach,!Tim!Sundell,!and!Matt!Strohl.!!!

34
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University#Press.#
Zimmerman,#Eric,#Ian# Bogost,# Conor#Linehan,#Ben#Kirman,#Bryan#Roche,#Mark#Pesce,#Scott#
Rigby,#et#al.#2015.#40-&E$3-.,%&K"=%5F&M11="$60-)B&')),-)B&M11%+6$*+"().#Edited#by#Stef-
fen#P.#Walz#and#Sebastian#Deterding.#Cambridge,#Mass.:#The#MIT#Press.#
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