1. Have you noticed when you present people with facts that are contrary to their deepest held beliefs they double down in the teeth of overwhelming evidence against them? The reason is related to the worldview perceived to be under threat by the #conflictingdata. #doublingdown
2. #Creationists, for example, dispute the evidence for evolution in fossils and DNA because they are concerned about secular forces encroaching on religious faith.
3. #Antivaxxers distrust big pharma and think that money corrupts medicine, which leads them to believe that vaccines cause autism despite the inconvenient truth that the one and only study claiming such a link was retracted and its lead author accused of fraud.
4. #Climatedeniers study tree rings, ice cores and the ppm of greenhouse gases because they are passionate about freedom of markets & industries to operate unencumbered by restrictive government regulation.
5. This power of belief over evidence is the result of two factors: #cognitiveissonance ie. the uncomfortable tension that comes from holding two conflicting thoughts simultaneously and the #backfireeffect.
6. What can we do to convince people of the error of their beliefs? Read 6 strategies in How to Convince Someone When Facts Fail. Why worldview threats undermine evidence https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/how-to-convince-someone-when-facts-fail/
7. This weekend I was disturbed to see a hashtag trending due to #conservativetrolls that stated an unbelievable & unfounded belief: ie. that Canada's Prime Minister was a dictator (a ruler with total power over a country, typically one who has obtained control by force.)
8. If this was factually true then @JustinTrudeau would possess complete authoritarian control of Canada but we know he doesn't. Leaders of dictatorships are backed by powerful groups of people so I began to wonder who the power brokers behind this #fakenews are?

What say you?
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