Originally Posted By mawnck Doesn't matter which side you're on, this one's about YOU. (And me.) This is a quote from an upcoming book called "The Little Book of Behavioral Investing" by James Montier: >>"For instance, a group of people were asked to read randomly selected studies on the deterrent efficacy of the death sentence (and criticisms of those studies). Subjects were also asked to rate the studies in terms of the impact they had had on their views on capital punishment and deterrence. Half of the people were pro-death penalty and half were anti-death penalty. "Those who started with a pro-death sentence stance thought the studies that supported capital punishment were well argued, sound and important. They also thought that the studies that argued against the death penalty were all deeply flawed. Those who held the opposite point of view at the outset reached exactly the opposite conclusion. "As the psychologists concluded: ‘Asked for their final attitudes relative to the experiment's start, proponents reported they were more in favor of capital punishment, whereas opponents reported that they were less in favor of capital punishment.' In effect each participant's views polarized, becoming much more extreme than before the experiment. "In another study of biased assimilation (accepting all evidence as supporting your case) participants were told a soldier at Abu Ghraib prison was charged with torturing prisoners. He wanted the right to subpoena senior administration officials. He claimed he'd been informed that the administration had suspended the Geneva Convention. "The psychologists gave different people different amounts of evidence supporting the soldier's claims. For some, the evidence was minimal; for others, it was overwhelming. Unfortunately the amount of evidence was essentially irrelevant in assessing people's behavior. For 84% of the time, it was possible to predict whether people believed the evidence was sufficient to subpoena Donald Rumsfeld based on just three things: 1. The extent to which they liked Republicans 2. The extent to which they liked the US military 3. The extent to which they liked human rights groups like Amnesty International. "Adding the evidence into the equation allowed the researchers to increase the prediction accuracy from 84% to 85%. Time and time again, psychologists have found that confidence and biased assimilation perform a strange tango. It appears the more sure people were that they have the correct view, the more they distorted new evidence to suit their existing preference, which in turns made them even more confident!"<< -------- That excerpt comes from the middle of a much longer article that supports my contention that we are SO screwed financially speaking. Or at least, I *think* it does. But that's neither here nor there. (Well, actually, it's here: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/just-biding-our-time-before-the-crash-in-2011-2010-1" target="_blank">http://www.businessinsider.com...1-2010-1</a> ) I just found that book excerpt mighty interesting if true. Which of course it is, since I agree with it. Er ... uh ... Man this is messing up my morning.
Originally Posted By ecdc Fascinating and crazy, but not all that surprising, is it? Like I said in a post yesterday, even chimpanzees engage in cognitive dissonance, which is essentially what's happening here - devaluing evidence and perspectives that don't support existing worldviews. Changing beliefs and behavior takes patience and time, something our media has no interest in. But it absolutely is possible under the right circumstances.
Originally Posted By skinnerbox <<Changing beliefs and behavior takes patience and time, something our media has no interest in. But it absolutely is possible under the right circumstances.>> Precisely why neocons are against "liberal education" (in the true sense of the word) at the university level. Young adults have the best opportunity to change their beliefs and behavior through higher education. Which, of course, is anathema to the neocon agenda of goose stepping everyone into a fascist dictatorship of corporate control.
Originally Posted By pecos bill Hmm, denying facts to support sentiment? Kind of reminds me of religion. Sad to think that at this stage of the game, we are still subject to what amounts to a herd mentality.
