People mostly fail to understand how their own institutions work.

Evidence

What is striking about institutions in the modern world, such as those related to marriage and religion, is that most people still don’t understand how or why these institutions work or how they harness aspects of our innate psychology and alter our brains and biology. Not much has changed on this front. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success, 1046

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: Complex tools preceded and drove the evolution of causal-model reasoning. — Joseph Henrich, The Secret of Our Success: How Culture…, 1041; Citizens cannot trust government because they lack knowledge of its trustworthiness; Citizens failed to notice constitutional structures being compromised. — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 612 (+5 more)

Broader Connections

• Citizens failed to notice constitutional structures being compromised. #exemplifies (0.90) — Philip Chase Bobbitt, Reflections Inspired by My Critics, 612
• Reliable unreliable narrators reveal social institutions through their distorted views. #exemplifies (0.85) — Janet Burroway; Elizabeth Stuckey-French; Ned Stuckey-French, Writing Fiction, Tenth Edition, 563
• Major social change is witnessed with unclear understanding by its actors. #expands (0.82)
• Citizens cannot trust government because they lack knowledge of its trustworthiness #expands (0.80)
• Trust requires presumptive knowledge that most citizens lack about officials. #corroborates (0.78) — Russell Hardin, Trust and Trustworthiness, 716
• Insiders take a society’s basic structure for granted while outsiders judge it unfair. #expands (0.75) — Nicolas Baumard, A mutualistic approach to morality, 717
• Humans can personally recognize several thousand people but design groups for the least capable. #expands (0.72) — Lyn H. Lofland, World of Strangers_ Order and Action in…, 1057