#251: Mechanistic Dehumanisation, False Consensus Effect & the NPC Illusion
3 Ideas in 2 Minutes on Living Among NPCs
I. Mechanistic Dehumanisation
Everyone I don’t know is an NPC.
…seems to be a common sentiment. NPC (non-player character) is a gaming term for people who seem to lack agency and a complex inner life. Instead, they’re following a script someone else wrote for them.
On the morning train, you’re surrounded by silent strangers running their pre-programmed commute routines. In a government office, the customer service staff feel like they’ve been meticulously coded to repeat the same dialogue tree until you select the correct bureaucratic response. That can trigger Mechanistic Dehumanisation.
It’s when we stop treating people as humans with feelings and start seeing them as tools or obstacles. Writer and stick-figure enthusiast Tim Urban (from Wait But Why) says this happens when our “Primitive Mind” takes over.
When we’re stressed or stuck in our own heads, we stop using our “Higher Mind” to see the nuance in others. We drop down to a lower level where people become flat characters or labels rather than complex individuals.
We treat the world like a solo video game where we, and the people we got to know better, are the only “real” players. It’s a useful heuristic that keeps us from getting overwhelmed. But it’s also how we lose empathy. Even the grumpy commuter or clipboard-wielding bureaucrat has a complex inner life and story we just haven’t “unlocked” yet.
II. False Consensus Effect
Everyone driving slower than you is an idiot and everyone driving faster than you is a maniac.
—George Carlin
Oddly enough, there’s also something called the False Consensus Effect, which is kind of the opposite of the NPC mindset. It’s a cognitive bias in which we assume our own beliefs, habits, and quirks are the “default” for everyone else. It leads us to overestimate how much others actually agree with us.
Take me, for example, as an experienced driver and the benchmark for normal and correct driving behaviour. My cruising speed, braking distance and lane choices aren’t just preferences. They’re the objective gold standard.
I’m not just driving. Oh no! I am the calibrated template that every other player should be following if they want to qualify as a functional member of traffic. Obviously, any reasonable person sees it exactly the same way.
You’re welcome.
III. NPC Illusion
There are no ordinary people. You have never talked to a mere mortal.
―C.S. Lewis, The Weight of Glory
👉 Not long ago, I put together a post with 15+ Hard-Hitting C.S. Lewis Quotes About Life & Human Nature
🐘
Have a great week,
Chris
themindcollection.com