How facts backfire--the threat against democracy in the human brain. READ IF HUMAN.

ah yes I am not sure what state of mind I was in when I made my earlier post ;D

I enjoyed the article, and having given it a more thoroughly reading I have seen this behavior many times before in quite a large range of topics. People do not wish to admit they are wrong and will use falsified data to try to corroborate their claims. But in a sense we are all guilty of this at one point or another. maybe that is where I was going with my comment on biases.. because each of us while we interpret our facts our own way they are already tainted as soon as we learn them..

ugh I give myself some nasty headaches trying to decipher my own thoughts...

I think this study speaks to the vicious dichotomy that's present in modern American politics. Belief preservation is one thing, but I actually think this phenomenon is the result of putting too much trust in various forms of media; people should never forget to use a "filter" when being presented with information and should get the story from various perspectives thoroughly.

However, I think it's important to know that persuasion isn't as simple as being presented with facts, especially if studies indicate people will only endorse facts that endorse their point of view. Persuasion of course involves logos, pathos, and ethos. Voters not only take into account the issues, but also the credibility of the candidate and how they are feeling. This combination will set up a very interesting election cycle this November. Of course, ideally logos, logic, and facts would win the day--in a perfect world.

"Critical thinking is good."


How is anything in this thread supposed to be new? Do people assume they don't need to be critical of their own beliefs?

Just because some people don't want to listen to facts doesn't mean everyone should be deprived from the facts.

Good article. Human beings are funny creatures. I've read something similar on youarenotsosmart.com, which is all about self delusions.
keeping facts from people would not solve the issue of people not being able to have their beliefs challenged. If we give them a contradicting fact/opinion, they cling onto their belief more fervently. If we don't, they cling to them anyway and that's part of the reason they got like that in the first place. It's having a greater exposure to a variety of opinions, is what stops intolerance and any one or few opinions become tyrannical and over society and ourselves. What needs to happen is that the process of critical thought, open mindedness and self awareness needs to be cultivated and taught. We need to be taught that how passionately we are about our opinion has nothing to with it actually being correct or not. Just because a logical conclusion or solution jumps into our head with an euphoric 'aha' moment, does not mean it is actually right, we just think it is. Values and emotions are irrational things, we need to learn to check ourselves and how to analyse everything critically. Challenging our own believes is hard, definitely. It's only human nature to get angry in the face of contradiction. That doesn't mean people don't ever change their minds in time. The greater the metamorphosis, the longer and harder the process is.

An opinion or value of yours that is painful for you to question, it should probably be questioned. If it's correct, you'll end up coming back to it anyway. Of course there are limitations to the human capacity in coming to logically and critically correct conclusions but it's all we can do to try the best we can. To do this, we always have to be open to being proven wrong.

idk... i'm tired...

Democracy simply doesn't work. Benevolent dictatorship ftw!

Facts are not for consumption. Facts are not what person A says and person B believes. This is very much because of the problem posted in the OP - people believe they know the facts.

You cannot just consume facts in a trivial manner because of this - facts must be discovered because the people offering you 'facts' for mere consumption without effort on your part are just as vulnerable to these strong set beliefs which are taken for facts.

Don't take anyones word without checking - ESPECIALLY not when they seem to want you to very much. The more they insist that they have the facts, the more you should check it.

@Kevinaswell

Recently, a few political scientists have begun to discover a human tendency deeply discouraging to anyone with faith in the power of information. It’s this: Facts don’t necessarily have the power to change our minds. In fact, quite the opposite. In a series of studies in 2005 and 2006, researchers at the University of Michigan found that when misinformed people, particularly political partisans, were exposed to corrected facts in news stories, they rarely changed their minds. In fact, they often became even more strongly set in their beliefs.

I don't think that way generally speaking.


R.C.
Remember to read my tagline below...

This explains the climate change denialists, the creationists, the folks that think the Almighty Free Market will fix everything, etc.

I just want to go in the booth and vote. No time for faith and ideology, or culture wars...I ain't got time for that now.