What the Traitors reveals about ourselves and what we can learn

Reflections on the competition show based on a game invented by a Russian psychologist, the US Election, Salem witch trials, the state of the world today and how we might "win" despite it all

I won’t lie, I’ve had a tough time this year trying to exist amidst everything happening in the world - from the recent US Election, to the never-ending and increasing violence around the world, to the climate crisis we are living in.. the list goes on and on. I’ve found myself trying to self-numb through increased mindless content consumption, but lately I’ve been finding that the content I’m consuming is in fact a massive and unignorable mirror to the reality I’ve been avoiding, and that what can be learned is actually quite pertinent, given the times we’re in that I mentioned above. I know that sounded dramatic. Like I said, I’ve been watching a lot of TV. But let me try to explain.

This weekend I binge watched “The Traitors”, a competition/game/reality show where the premise is basically Mafia/Werewolf brought to life: where participants are split into two groups - a minority called “The Traitors” who work together and the remaining called “The Faithful” who are unaware of who the Traitors are. The Traitors “murder” (eliminate) a person every night, while the Faithfuls must banish (eliminate) who they think is a Traitor every night. The goal as a Traitor is to avoid banishment, and the goal as a Faithful is to successfully eliminate all the Traitors from the game. At the end of the game, if only Faithfuls remain, then they win (the game, and the associated prize pot). However, if a Traitor remains among them, the Traitor wins, leaving the Faithfuls with nothing.

The show is popular around the world for good reason (with US, UK, NZ, AUS, Canada, Netherlands, and more with their own versions) - it is compelling television. As a viewer, you are clued in from the start who the Traitors are, so the excitement is not in the final unveiling, but rather in the unraveling journey it takes to get there as (spoiler alert!) it turns out it is unbelievably challenging to find the Traitors. As a result, the players’ behaviours that ensue are pure entertainment, but more importantly, shine a light on some truths that we could use reminding of, especially when we consider the state the world is in today.

1. An informed minority always has an advantage over an uninformed majority

In the 7 episodes of the Traitors I burned through, I watched the Faithful banish each other repeatedly, incorrectly, while the Traitors simply watched and laughed. The game of Mafia (from which Traitors was modelled after) was invented in 1986 by Dimitry Davidoff, a Russian psychology student. His goal was to showcase the effects of information asymmetry: that an uninformed majority will rarely lose against a well-informed minority. The advantage of hidden information allows the minority to coordinate and manipulate to advance their agenda.

There are countless examples of this over the last few decades IRL — from a powerful regime that for years covered up a catastrophic nuclear accident (the very regime that Davidoff came of age in), to tobacco companies withholding important research and scientific data to downplay the risks from the public, to the historical portrayal of BIPOC individuals as dangerous criminals to support violence, to misrepresentations of historical events and wars as written by the victors— you get the picture.

The power of information lies not just in its possession, but in its artful dissemination.

2. Making quick judgements on each other based on limited information can lead to damaging outcomes

Okay, so we’ve acknowledge that the uninformed majority is at a disadvantage. This means The Traitors is ultimately a game of rash impressions. Players are making an assessment on each other based on limited information — perhaps a single comment was made that was questionable, or perhaps someone made the slightest gesture that was off putting. One Faithful suggested that another player (who happened also to be a Faithful) was a Traitor, because they “seemed smug.” In other seasons, individuals have quit the game because it has brought up feelings of isolation and bullying from their childhood; of being judged for something that was not truly reflective of their character.

The obvious fatal flaw here is that the premise suggests that any one action or mannerism is indicative of a person’s entire identity. For an extreme example, we don’t have to look further than the Salem witch trials that took place as a result of such impressions turned into hysteria — a literal witch hunt. But examples of this are ever present today. Democrats and Republicans both think the other stupid, due to their political affiliation. The criminal justice system has demonized specific groups of people such that they are disproportionately apprehended. If you are Canadian and read that, your internal dialogue muttering “well, the US is dumb and different” and believing the above only applies to the US, check again.

Whenever we make flash judgements on each other based on limited information, we run a risk far greater than simply being wrong. We deepen the echo chambers we live in, limit our learning, and sedate our understanding and empathy. And in the worst case, especially where there are dire consequences to our judgements, we risk damaging the livelihood of the individual we misjudged. Maybe, just maybe, we would benefit more from seeing each other in our shared humanity, rather than our individual idiosyncrasies through the lens of our biases.

3. We can’t win through chaos and cannibalization

On one particularly chaotic episode of the Traitors, one Traitor remarked “I love mess”. As seen above, in the most effective manipulations, chaos is cultivated through flash impressions, group think and hysteria, and the members of the majority turn on each other, allowing the informed minority pulling the strings to remain in power, safe and unseen.

I think this reminder is particularly relevant and important as we examine where we are today in the world. I can’t help but think that the current mayhem we exist in is intentionally curated and created with the expected result of us turning on ourselves, in turn enabling existing power structures to remain in place.

I see this daily on social media— people cancelling others based on who they voted for, cutting off relationships with those that don’t align with their beliefs and values. I understand it, of course - there’s a lot of hurt that comes from seeing other people appear to support individuals or institutions that uphold violence, hatred, etc. But demonizing each other will allow those who truly are controlling the narrative to continue to hide in plain sight.

To be honest with you, I’ve been feeling so down about the state of the world this past year. Sometimes, it feels like hope is so far away. But as I wrote this piece, I took a look on the wikipedia page for the Mafia game, where it is stated laughably plain and simple: “If the villagers are allowed to keep a pencil and paper, they always win.”

So with my (digital) pen and paper, this is how I’m starting: with a reminder to myself. Perhaps the most effective strategy is not to build walls, but to work together and remind ourselves what game we’re playing, who we’re playing with, and what we’re playing for. It might be the only thing that will really give us a true shot.