Image: Feverpitched - Getty Images
"The Truth Just Ahead" sign
None of us is immune from looking the other way or crying foul when confronted with an unwelcome truth. This sleight of mind includes an array of tactics, many on display in the reactions to the indictment of Donald Trump. And, whatever your ideological persuasion, the political feeding frenzy erupting around this event illustrates how we mentally bob and weave to avoid the discomfort of acknowledging facts we wish weren’t there. Here are the primary mental gymnastics involved:
- Discredit the source: By labeling the truth teller a liar or nefarious, we can throw the baby out with the bath water. By negating that person’s or institution’s credibility, we dismiss the veracity of the information they convey and ignore it.
- Deny: Whenever engaged in an argument where she was presented with verifiable facts refuting her stated opinion, my wife’s grandmother would simply say, “I know I’m right.” Completely denying any possibility of being wrong based on . . . well, nothing . . . is classic head in the sand arrogance. Sorry grandma.
- Play victim: I can ignore the inconvenient truth in question by, instead, focusing on a “take pity on me” narrative. This pivot to pity city attracts sympathy from others who also feel victimized. The issue at hand is no longer the truth, but rather, how that truth persecutes me unfairly.
- Cry conspiracy: Not only am I being treated unjustly and victimized, but the forces arrayed against me are vast, powerful and insidious. This method affords a secondary ego boost. I must be one important person to have so many individuals and institutions out to get me. What’s more, believing in the bogeyman is an easy way to cry “fake news!”, while replacing it with “alternative facts” about malevolent conspiracies (think QAnon).
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
- Present a false equivalency: To deflect blame, I compare what I did to others who have done something that, on the surface, appears similar. “Everybody is doing it” becomes my get-out-of-jail-free card. In the Trump melodrama, this involves comparing his misuse of classified documents to that of Pence and Biden, even though a dispassionate examination of the differences blows this up.
- Employ confirmation bias: Among the available methods, this is the most popular. It takes the least effort and yields the most reassurance that I’m right. How does it work? Once my ego becomes dug in about a belief that I refuse to scrutinize, I simply ignore information that refutes my position and seek out that which confirms it. If you’re liberal, you go to sources like MSNBC, and if you’re conservative, you watch Fox News or the equivalent. Once there, you will hear talking heads tell you that you’re right. How comforting.
OK, so these are some of the methods we embrace, but why are they so popular? First off, probably laziness. It takes considerable mental effort to scrutinize one’s beliefs and subject them to critical analysis. Also, it can require courage. Most of us aren’t fond of admitting we’re wrong, but doing so demonstrates the underlying strength of one’s character. Show me someone who claims they are always right, and I’ll show you insecurity on steroids.
Then, there’s tribalism. Belonging to certain social groups requires pledging allegiance to its prevailing view of reality. It’s called group think. This spares someone the hard work of applying critical thinking. We all just stand around agreeing with each other. Kumbayah. Unfortunately, it also turns us into a goosestepping pawns. Finally, neuroscientists know that an “I’m right” mindset lights up pleasure centers in the brain, while challenging our beliefs generates anxiety.
The failure to subject our opinions to critical thinking is not the province of any one political or ideological group. However, while most of us do it to some degree, it is the default mode for those who are hateful, bigoted, fearful of change or feeling victimized. It’s also encouraged by our cultural distaste for “flip floppers,” a derogatory term for people who, in considering new information, change their minds. Imagine that. Our failure to transcend this tendency has wrought much social and personal misery.
As Mark Twain famously quipped, “It ain’t what you don’t know that gets you in trouble. It’s what you know for sure that just ain’t so.”
For more, visit philipchard.com.
