Hit Makers: Why Things Become Popular

by Derek Thompson

There is a psychological term for thinking that feels easy, and fortunately it’s easy to remember, too. It’s called “fluency.” Fluent ideas and products are processed faster and they make us feel better—not just about ideas and products we confront, but also about ourselves. Most people generally prefer ideas that they already agree with, images that are easy to discern, stories that are easy to relate to, and puzzles that are easy to solve.6 One of the most important sources of fluency is familiarity. A familiar idea is simpler to process and place in the mental map. When people see an artwork that reminds them of something they’ve been taught is famous, they feel the thrill of recognition and attribute the thrill to the painting itself. When they read a political argument that reflects their biases, it fits snugly into their story of how the world works. Thus, familiarity, fluency, and fact are inextricably linked. “That idea sounds familiar,” “That idea feels right,” and “That idea is good and true” spill into each other in one mental mush. But not all thinking feels so easy. Some ideas, images, and symbols are more difficult to process, and the term for hard thinking is called “disfluency.” Just as the mental mush conflates fluency with good ideas, people tend to consider disfluency a sign that something is wrong.