Folks who insist on trying to fit the facts to their theory, rather than admit that their theory is flawed: it is this admission which permits a person to discover a better theory.
Yet regardless of massive evidence to the contrary, in this space we have people still thinking inflation is the current issue we need to fight.
Well, yes. But what about the problem you got wrong. Try confronting it and wondering why you got it wrong. It is not a bad thing to grow when you find a theory has failed. It ought to be a release.
Psychology of intransigence. Last war syndrome.
Here's another reason why people will not change their minds. Certain people - who have a vested interest in the status quo - are willing to make stuff up, so that those people who don't know any better will continue to believe what the manipulators wish them to.
"Some stand to profit from the status quo: Banks present a systemic risk to the economy, and reducing that risk by lowering their leverage and increasing capital requirements also lowers profitability. Others are hired guns, doing the bidding of bosses on Wall Street.
They all suffer cognitive dissonance — the intellectual crisis that occurs when a failed belief system or philosophy is confronted with proof of its implausibility."
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/what-caused-the-financial-crisis-the-big-lie-goes-viral/2011/10/31/gIQAXlSOqM_story_1.html
This board would be a great place to run a study. No one ever changes their mind. It doesn't matter that they make the same mistake over and over. They will always come back with the same answer.
I say this for one reason - to see if it is possible to get someone to look inwards and think again. It is the essential method of finding the path to truth. And yet, few will take it. They'd rather adhere to a bad theory than admit an error in their hypothesis.
For reasons of pride, perhaps? I could not care less about rubbing it in or some other such thing. I'm just wondering what it would take to free a person from misconception. At this point, I suspect it is more-or-less impossible. If you believe the moon is made of green cheese, there's literally nothing that can change your mind. Mmmmm. That moon rock is tasty.
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