Deceivers hijack our trust in precision by attaching specific numbers (e.g., "13.5% of customers") to their claims. This gives a "patina of rigor and understanding," making us less likely to question the source or validity of the information itself, even if the number is arbitrary.

Dr. Wallace posits that much of human conversation is 'stateless,' meaning our response is a direct reaction to the most recent input, not the entire discussion history. This cognitive shortcut explains why people repeat themselves in chats and why early chatbots without deep memory could still convincingly mimic human interaction.

Humans naturally conserve mental energy, a concept Princeton's Susan Fisk calls being 'cognitive misers.' For most decisions, people default to quick, intuitive rules of thumb (heuristics) rather than deep, logical analysis. Marketing is more effective when it works with this human nature, not against it.

Humans crave control. When faced with uncertainty, the brain compensates by creating narratives and seeing patterns where none exist. This explains why a conspiracy theory about a planned event can feel more comforting than a random, chaotic one—the former offers an illusion of understandable order.

The fear of loss is stronger than the attraction to gain. This "loss aversion" explains why people hesitate to initiate positive gestures, like smiling at a stranger in an elevator. They are willing to sacrifice an almost certain positive reciprocal outcome (98% chance) to protect against a tiny risk of looking foolish (2% chance).

Current AI models often provide long-winded, overly nuanced answers, a stark contrast to the confident brevity of human experts. This stylistic difference, not factual accuracy, is now the easiest way to distinguish AI from a human in conversation, suggesting a new dimension to the Turing test focused on communication style.

Humans have a "Reason Respecting Tendency" so powerful that our brains respond to the structure of a reason, not just its substance. Experiments show that saying "I have to make some copies" is an effective way to cut a line, even though it's a tautology. The word "because" triggers automatic compliance.

We are cognitively wired with a "truth bias," causing us to automatically assume that what we see and hear is true. We only engage in skeptical checking later, if at all. Scammers exploit this default state, ensnaring us before our slower, more deliberate thinking can kick in.

People often mistake cynicism for intelligence. However, research shows it's a protective measure used by those with poorer reasoning skills to avoid being taken advantage of. This self-protection leads them to miss out on positive human interactions by assuming the worst in others.