Power imposes distance between those that have it and those that do not.
Dominant people use snap judgments and conform to received wisdom more than do the less dominant. Those who need power, and those who have it, think differently.
Cognitive miserliness means they prefer to think in terms of stereotypes and don’t like being challenged.
The toxic combination of power, optimism, and abstract thinking makes powerful people more certain. The more cut off they are from others, the more confident they are that they are right.
From the book, Willful Blindness by Margaret Heffernan