Why You Always Get Punished for Telling The Truth

There's a story about Zig Ziglar, the motivational speaker. A woman approached him at one of his seminars, begging him for help. She said she hated her job. Her boss was horrible. Her coworkers hated her.

What should she do?

Well, Zig told her to shut up and stop complaining. He said she sounded like the negative one. He told her to chant aphorisms into a mirror about how much she loved her job. She did. Lo and behold, she was cured.

I've got bad news for everyone.

Zig didn't help this woman. In fact, all he did was reinforce a cognitive bias that psychologists have been studying for decades. This bias explains a lot about the state of the world today. It explains why nobody listens to you about any of the threats we face now. It explains why they try to punish you, even when you’re right. It explains why telling the truth makes you the bad guy.

It’s getting worse.