People are constantly trying to con us.

One defense is to share examples of people setting us up before we draw a conclusion.

I follow cycling. I might have to stop, but that’s a topic for another day. Cycling has a credibility problem because the public has been forced to discover that it’s a corrupt society. This is very bad news if your personal happiness depends on pro cycling.

Two questions – say them out loud before you answer:

Cycling has a hundred year history of corruption. What percentage of the current peloton do you think is doping?

What’s your answer? Play the game and write down the first answer that popped in your head.

Wait a bit

Wait some more

Answer this question:

Cycling has made great strides with cleaning up. Improvements in cycling are shown by the top riders climbing under six watts per kilo. What percentage of the current peloton do you think is doping?

What’s your answer? Play the game and write down the first answer that popped in your head.

Did your brain arrive at a different number? I wrote the questions and I can’t help revising my estimate downwards.

What is happening?

The first question contains “100” and “corruption” – the 100 anchors me at a high number and corrupt prepares my mind to think about crooks.

The second question contains “six,” “cleaning” and “improvements” – the 6 shifts my anchor downwards and cleaning/improvements sets me up to revise my opinion in favor of clean sport.

My point is not to tell you that elite endurance sport is filled with cheats. My point is to challenge you to become aware of how people influence our reality.

The true masters of this are the media, particularly anything connected to News Corporation. Watch Fox News (with the sound off) or read the headlines of the Wall Street Journal.