Why you should treat charisma as a red flag

Today’s crop of smooth talkers tap directly into a specific evolutionary vulnerability. Here’s how to defend yourself Recently, I was alone in a bar waiting for a friend. To pass the time, I started chatting to a stranger. He had an easy, confident way of speaking, which I admired.

We discussed topics I know little about: the instability of modern economies, the feasibility of commercial space travel, the likelihood of a coup in Russia. I found myself leaning in and asking questions: I felt as if I could learn a lot from this person. We eventually got to psychology, which is more my wheelhouse. I brooded about how easy it’s become for people to accept strange ideas. “Some people will believe anything,” he observed. “Some people even believe the Earth is round ! ” It’s increasingly difficult to ignore how fragmented and bizarre our beliefs have become.…