The world is extremely information rich so we tend to filter out most information, which we must do because it is efficient and it allows us to function by enabling us to avoid endless processing.
But the problem arises: What to do with the knowledge that people filter out information that would benefit them?
You know the common story of someone warning others but people don't listen or people getting defensive when you try to point out a flaw of theirs.
There are five main reasons I can think of why people filter out information that would be beneficial:
1. High friction in the effort to understand. (Ex: A good opportunity for investment is presented to an investor but their knowledge is too lacking to justify the effort of understanding it.)
2.Perceived Lack of Relevance. (Ex: An anxious person who does not understand that physiology is related to psychology and ignores improving sleep and exercise.)
3. The information destabilizes identity. (Ex: If the feeling of belonging to a group gives someone’s life meaning and they prioritize this above all, they’ll ignore beliefs that contradict group values.)
4. Negative emotional association to information source. (Ex: A person or a group says something true but people filter it out because of their tarnished reputation. Another example is if people have a negative association to certain words in an argument, they reject the argument not because of the underlying concept but because of their association to certain words used.)
5. Someone isn’t wired to perceive the information. (Ex: Creative people who prioritize novel or new information and traditionalists who prioritize the proven and tested.)
Your job as a poster is to identify the most likely reason someone would not want to engage with the information you’re giving.
This practice should help you model the audience in advance and for the audience to be guided in anticipating their own blind spot.