If you’re reading a piece of news online, check out where it’s coming from. Read about the journal or magazine and see how long it’s been around, who contributes to it, and whether it’s a scholarly or well-respected source. See if the source is an authority on the subject. If your cousin is trying to tell you all about which car to get but he doesn’t even have a driver’s license, then consider the possibility that he may not know what he’s talking about.
If you’re looking for the truth about a scholarly matter, then make sure you’re reading a peer-reviewed journal, so you know that the source has been approved as credible. You don’t want to get scholarly information on someone’s personal blog, unless that person is a respected scholar. The library is under appreciated as a source of information today. If you want to use it but feel shy about it, just talk to the librarian about how you can search for information.
It’s humbling to admit you don’t know everything there is to know. This is the first step to becoming a more critical thinker and to understanding that arguments are often more complicated than they seem, or more complicated than you may give them credit for. While you should admit you don’t know everything to yourself, you don’t have to be eager to offer this information to others. For example, if you’re buying a car, you don’t want to tell the salesperson, “I don’t know anything about cars…” or you’re making it much more likely that people will take advantage of you.
Carve out a chunk of time every day, or at least every week, to do some reading. You can be systematic about it and get determined to understand everything there is to know about geology or contemporary poetry, or you can just read whatever piques your interest that week. The most important thing is that you develop a thirst for knowledge and continue to question the world around you. If people know you are knowledgeable and well-read, they will be less likely to try to trick you or to get you to fall into a trap.
Plus, if you’re the kind of person who is known for asking questions, then people will be less likely to try to trick or scam you. If you’re in class, then asking a million questions may derail the teacher a bit. Just ask what you really need to know right then and talk to the teacher after class if you have further questions.
The same goes for reading your news. Try not to get all of your news from one source or your thinking is likely to be biased. Read at least 2-3 news sources so you don’t fall for any tricks or believe something that isn’t entirely true. The internet can be a great resource for asking questions. You can use interactive forums to get feedback from a lot of different people. For example, you can ask you questions on Reddit’s “Ask Reddit” forum, which will gain you responses from a variety of people from different backgrounds.
Do not make a decision based on one person’s opinion because you are afraid will make the wrong one. If you are indecisive, a person who has something to gain from you may turn that against you. They’ll assure you that it is the right one, what are you waiting for? But if a person is afraid or scornful of waiting for another opinion, or doing research, or otherwise weighing your options. . . that is a warning sign. Beware of FOMO (Fear of Missing Out). FOMO can mean that you are afraid that if you do not act now, you will miss out on an opportunity that will never present itself again. Chances are good that is not the case. Keep in mind that people who try to force you to quickly make a decision instead of giving you time to make an educated choice are often doing so precisely because they don’t want you to do any outside research; they don’t want you to be able to call their bluff.
Sure, this may make some social situations a bit more unpleasant than they would be if you were agreeable and went along with everything a person said, but this will keep you from being gullible. Whenever you’re given a new piece of information, ask yourself how much you can rely on the source, how likely it is to be true, and what counterarguments a person might make to the contrary.
Try to see things from the other person’s perspective to identify their possible intentions. Ask yourself these questions: Why are they in such a rush for a commitment? What do they have to gain? How well do I know them? People who are gullible tend to trust anyone who gives them information, especially if they consider that person to be older and wiser. However, don’t let a person’s age or authority sway you into believing something that isn’t true. Remember that people of any age have to prove themselves to you first. If you’re too trusting right away, then people are likely to take advantage of you and to trick you into doing something that’s not really good for you.
People who are gullible sometimes don’t want to take the time to figure out whether something is true or not. However, this is exactly what you should do if you want to avoid falling into a trap.
Remember the truth of the statement, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch. ” If you’re offered an amazing opportunity, then there’s probably something you have to do in return. No one wants to just give you a chunk of money, an amazing gift, or a piece of property without wanting something in return. Ask yourself, how will this opportunity benefit the other person? If someone is offering you a gift certificate, what would be the incentive? Would the person really be doing this out of the goodness of their heart?
This doesn’t mean you should continue to be gullible, but that you shouldn’t be frustrated with yourself for being gullible, either. It’s likely that your gullibility has helped you in more ways than you may know.
For example, if your friend says, “Don’t get a Volvo. My cousin has a Volvo, and she says it’s always breaking down on her. Get a Jetta instead,” then this may be stating a truth about one person’s experiences with a Volvo, but it doesn’t mean it’s true for all Volvos.
People can use the desire to be seen as “nice” by insinuating one is rude or mean for saying “no”. This is especially true of predatory men trying to convince women to get involved with them. If something does not feel right to you, it is better to be cautious than to get scammed. Of course, you don’t want to be paranoid, thinking that any time someone talks to you, that there’s a potential they’re going to scam you. Still, if you’ve been called gullible before, it’s better to be cautious than sorry. If someone is trying to sell you something, then you should especially be wary of saying yes. Ask yourself if you actually want the product, and if it really sounds like a good deal, or if you’re just afraid to say no because you feel sorry for the person.
Think about it: if someone started a rumor about you, then you wouldn’t want everyone to instantly believe it, would you? Work on being less gullible and assuming that most gossip is just gossip and nothing more. If you have a reputation for believing everything you hear, then people may want to trick you with completely false gossip just to tease you.
Remember that it can take a while to rebuild trust. If the person has tricked you before, then you shouldn’t trust them again, right away. If the person is clearly trying to get you to buy into something absurd, just roll your eyes and say, “Ha-ha, very funny,” to show that you won’t be fooled again.
If you get email about cash prizes you won for contests you didn’t apply for, then send them straight to the trash. Everyone wants to believe that there’s a ton of unclaimed money with their name floating around on it, but we’re rarely so lucky.
Though salespeople don’t inherently try to trick you or scam you, you are much more likely to get tricked if you’re completely ready to listen and if you let people talk to you about products you’ve had no interest in buying.
Another way you can tell if a person is lying to you is to listen to how confident their voice sounds. Though some crooks have their words down to an art, the less experienced ones may mumble, or say “uh” and “um” a lot when they try to tell you something that is blatantly false. See how the person reacts when you ask a question. If they’re lying to you, then they’ll be much more likely to look scared or caught off guard.
Be especially careful when you read the news on this day. A lot of newspapers like to run fake stories on this day, so don’t be the person who posts a fake news story on Facebook or emails it to their friends without realizing they’ve been fooled. On this day, practice turning the tables on the people who called you gullible and tricking them, instead!
