Maybe that explains it.
Psychologists talk about "confirmation bias" - "people’s tendency to process information by looking for, or interpreting, information that is consistent with their existing beliefs."
Right. The simple answer, they just want to see and believe what they want to see and believe. Damn the facts, the truth, the evidence from their senses five. It's a deeply ignorant, childish & corrosive way to live, but many, many adults seem to fiercely cling to that attitude. How many refused to get the Covid vax and died during the pandemic? How many follow & voted for the MAGA King even though he is an obvious conman and a supremely corrupt, authoritarian, blithering idiot?
I think the remedy is a bit of humility. Plus the desire and ability to learn from reality. Reality is a hard teacher, but all the lessons are good, true, real. Really. Sure it's a hall of mirrors, but there are moments of clarity and clear-thinking and seeing. Know that you live in the Cloud of Unknowing. That's a start. Best to keep your "beliefs," simple, open-minded, and subject to revision. What to believe in? How about a better day? Love? Compassion?
I swear I saw this quote on the cover Mad Magazine back in the 70's, but my Google search came up with this photo instead...
Right. Advertising. Propaganda. The Big Lie. The Right Wing in America has been selling a shit sandwich for decades. Think Rush Limbaugh, Fox News, Tucker Carlson, the whole subterranean B.S. ecosystem. Built on racism, fear, misogyny, xenophobia, white supremacy. Yikes. Folks flock to this shit like flies. They so much want to believe in their right wing, wanna be facist, shit sandwich. They will take a big bite and tell you it tastes great.
Amazing. Sure they are wrong. No doubt. A mind is a terrible thing to waste. Shite!