Study:Strongly held incorrect beliefs often cannot be changed by disputing facts

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

It has nothing to do with willpower it's to do with instinct. Challenging the 5,000 daily decisions you make is grossly inefficient. Which is why you don't challenge most of those decisions. What we're talking about - pre-held beliefs - are what you base your future decisions on, thus why it's difficult to change them, because you rely upon them to make the "correct" decisions; thus you believe they are correct.

I agree with what you're saying about decision-making and the inertia which resists us to modify the decisions we make, but that's not really the point of the article, which is that people will hold onto cherished beliefs in the face of daunting evidence to the contrary.

Take your example about margarine. You've made the decision to choose a particular brand. You like the value, the taste, the packaging, everything about it. You feel no need and see no reason to change.

Now along comes Brian Buzzkill Boru. I point out to you that your cherished margarine contains 10% rendered human fat. I take you to the factory where the margarine is made. The managing director explains to you that, yes, the margarine you've chosen is 10% human fat. He explains the process (how and where they harvest the human beings, what is done with the byproducts, how they disguise the taste), shows you his manifests and bills of lading for shipments of humans to be made into margaine, etc. Finally, the takes you on a tour of the facilities and shows you human fat being harvested directly from bodies, the rendering process, the manufacture, etc etc.

At this point, you look him in the eye and state, 'I don't believe you' and continue to buy margarine with people parts in it.

So, it isn't about making and staying with decisions - it is about continuing to hold beliefs that are demonstrably wrong in the face of overwhelming evidence to the contrary. The scientific term for this behavior is 'thick as a plank'.

Boru