In the end, truth will out. Won’t it?
Maybe
not. 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. Facts,
they found, were not curing misinformation. Like an underpowered
antibiotic, facts could actually make misinformation even stronger.
“The
general idea is that it’s absolutely threatening to admit you’re
wrong,” says political scientist Brendan Nyhan, the lead researcher on
the Michigan study. The phenomenon – known as “backfire” – is “a natural
defense mechanism to avoid that cognitive dissonance.”
This effect is only heightened by the
information glut, which offers – alongside an unprecedented amount of
good information – endless rumors, misinformation, and questionable
variations on the truth. In other words, it’s never been easier for
people to be wrong, and at the same time feel more certain that they’re
right.
New research, published in the
journal Political Behavior last month, suggests that once those facts –
or “facts” – are internalized, they are very difficult to budge.
Kuklinski’s study, however, involved
people getting information directly from researchers in a highly
interactive way. When Nyhan attempted to deliver the correction in a
more real-world fashion, via a news article, it backfired. Even if
people do accept the new information, it might not stick over the long
term, or it may just have no effect on their opinions.
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I think this proves that you can’t win people to the Gospel by sheer reason alone. No matter how good your argument is, it will be the Holy Spirit who changes men’s hearts, not us. This is why praying for those we are witnessing to is so important.
Then again, the world can use these findings against us. They say Christians don’t believe some of the science that is presented to them as fact because they are blinded by their beliefs… or maybe it’s the other way around, maybe the world is the one blinded by it’s disbelief…. So again, we find our way back to prayer and the work of the Holy Spirit to change hearts.
Agree with Matt above that this would show that reason and knowledge are probably not what is going to win people over.
As a Bostonian, the word around is usually don’t trust the Globe ;-). But I appreciate this article and you posting it. This was good timing for me to read with certain things happening in my life right now.
I see this thought as a temperary one because I have seen many times that truth and time go hand in hand.
It is my opinion that we have our current preident because many people chose to believe there was a great change comming. Many of those same people would not place the same vote now.
This was interesting…
It was the tree of “Knowledge” of good and evil that Adam & Eve stole in the garden of eden. We still battle this today. It is life we need from the tree of Life(Christ) and there are so many versions of this truth out there. I agree we need the Holy Spirit to guide and for us to actually listen.
Really makes one think about truth busting in one’s own beliefs and do I have the courage to admit I need to change.