Why people do not change their views

[Aposeopesis]

Hello, I am a newbie here, hope I will not get banned.
Each person, when he/she is engaged in self-education, selects for himself such sources of information, which contain information that fits into his/her worldview. If he/she is an atheist, he/she reads books about evolution; if he/she is a believer, he/she reads books about Christian miracles; if he/she is for the Democrats, he/she visits the media of the Democrats, if for the Republicans - the media of the Republicans, respectively. The information that does not fit into his/her worldview causes unpleasant feelings for him/her - cognitive dissonance; and to avoid these unpleasant feelings, he/she usually denies this information - declares it a fake, “photoshop”, or he forgets it.
I believe that education makes a person more dogmatic, because the modern education system only provides knowledge that fits into the overall picture.
We can conditionally say that the worldview is formed by the books that were accidentally read in the first place (or other sources of information).
There is an observation that believers are less likely to read the Bible than atheists (at least this is the case in Russia). This is due to the fact that atheists consider the Bible to be a set of fairy tales, and accordingly reading it does not cause cognitive dissonance in them; believers find facts in the Bible that do not fit into their picture of the world, this causes them cognitive dissonance and they stop reading.
It can be said that a smart person is the one who is not afraid of cognitive dissonance, or, more precisely, is ready to endure it until a new understanding comes (at a deeper level of knowledge).

[franky1]

cognitive dissonance. is the lack of agreement of a thought. its the game or turning reality into fantasy by not agreeing with reality

this is mainly done by those that cant grasp the concept of a fact. and so play some fantasy illusion as their version of what they think it means. just to fill in details they dont understand.

there is a high correlation between the less cognitively aware someone is, the easier they are to be fooled into believing lies

im not saying atheists are smarter than religious people..
im saying that religious people have some cognitive element missing in their life which they need to fill with their beliefs. they dont trust their own subconscious thoughts so they plead out to the atmosphere for answers/direction/decision.

its like republicans. cant make decisions for themselves so seek out a master to lead them. and they auto trust that leader no matter what. even if it gets them into trouble

[Slow death]

Hello, I am a newbie here, hope I will not get banned.

 

you registered in 2017 and started doing post from 2018, so you are not new and do not worry, if you do not break the rules you will not be banned. As for the topic, I just have to say that in Africa it is full of people who refuse to change their view.

for example:

in africa people even suffering at the hands of dictator, lie, corrupt and murderous leaders people every 5 years continue to vote on these dictator leaders

Each person, when he/she is engaged in self-education, selects for himself such sources of information, which contain information that fits into his/her worldview.

in my country even the most intelligent people who have studied hard, continue to be blind to the point of continuing to vote for the dictators and corrupt leaders. I realized that money, suffering and power can make even the most studied people become fanatics who cannot distinguish between right and wrong.

[BADecker]

You forget the most important point regarding why people don't change their views. They looked at all the options, and found that theirs was right all along.

[franky1]

You forget the most important point regarding why people don't change their views. They looked at all the options, and found that theirs was right all along.

then there are people like badecker that form their own idiotic thought. and then only seek the options that match their preference. and then join groups that support his ideals and surround himself with people that conform to his way of thinking to fool himself to believing he is right because all the options he has formed around him say only one thing

those types of people fear thinking outside of their little box. fear having a differing opinion as it will ostracize them out of their little social group.

[Cnut237]

Each person, when he/she is engaged in self-education, selects for himself such sources of information, which contain information that fits into his/her worldview.

This is why I like posting on the P&S section of this forum. I often encounter people who have perspectives that differ wildly from my own. People from all sorts of different backgrounds, from all sorts of different places around the world, people who challenge my opinions. It is vitally important to continually examine our own opinions for evidence of confirmation bias or other intellectual inauthenticity. Discussions with people who have the opposing viewpoint are a good way to address this.

Sometimes here I encounter arguments that cause me to fundamentally change my opinion. Often I encounter arguments that cause me to see my beliefs from a more nuanced perspective. But most importantly, I think, when discussing with people with whom I disagree, I have cause to try to justify my opinions. If I am unable to justify them convincingly or without evident bias, then I know there is a problem.

[Mauser]

You forget the most important point regarding why people don't change their views. They looked at all the options, and found that theirs was right all along.

then there are people like badecker that form their own idiotic thought. and then only seek the options that match their preference. and then join groups that support his ideals and surround himself with people that conform to his way of thinking to fool himself to believing he is right because all the options he has formed around him say only one thing

those types of people fear thinking outside of their little box. fear having a differing opinion as it will ostracize them out of their little social group.

I agree, we tend to surround ourself with people who think similar to us. This is probably a human feature which happens automatically. People will seem much more likeable if they are agreeing with us. That is also why pessimistic or grim people always seem alone. The Internet just makes it worse because we have such a far reach these days with our ideas.

[franky1]

I agree, we tend to surround ourself with people who think similar to us. This is probably a human feature which happens automatically. People will seem much more likeable if they are agreeing with us.

=

evidence of confirmation bias

[BADecker]

I agree, we tend to surround ourself with people who think similar to us. This is probably a human feature which happens automatically. People will seem much more likeable if they are agreeing with us.

=

evidence of confirmation bias

^^^ Evidence of confirmation "by ass."     

[Aposeopesis]

I agree, we tend to surround ourself with people who think similar to us. This is probably a human feature which happens automatically. People will seem much more likeable if they are agreeing with us. That is also why pessimistic or grim people always seem alone. The Internet just makes it worse because we have such a far reach these days with our ideas.

I have a question for you: have you noticed that this phenomenon has been intensified in the past few years? Roughly speaking, previously a person used to watch the news to get new information, but now he watches the news to get the confirmation of his point of view. Apparently, this is so in Russia, and what about the United States?

[franky1]

I agree, we tend to surround ourself with people who think similar to us. This is probably a human feature which happens automatically. People will seem much more likeable if they are agreeing with us. That is also why pessimistic or grim people always seem alone. The Internet just makes it worse because we have such a far reach these days with our ideas.

I have a question for you: have you noticed that this phenomenon has been intensified in the past few years? Roughly speaking, previously a person used to watch the news to get new information, but now he watches the news to get the confirmation of his point of view. Apparently, this is so in Russia, and what about the United States?

20 years ago. people watched the news and then only spread their belief to about 20 people.. (friends and family near their home)

more recently 1 person can seek 1million+ like minded idiots to thumbs up. +1 and 'like' their internet blog posts
where its just some fan club that just makes the creator feel like they have some kind of effect on the world. you know the type.. basement dweller thinking millions of people idolise them and so they can be famous without being in public.

whats happening now is some cultish groups and scammers actually create conspiracies. just for the purposes of then making a mailing list of idiots (those that believe, fan idolise and cherish the conspiracy) so now scammers have mailing lists of people they know how to easily dupe into handing over money.

so its not just 1 level of deceit. (lie to get famous/notoriety). bt 2 levels of deceit(lie for notoriety and then scam them for money)
i know most mainstream 'faiths' have had this double layer of deceit.. 'gather around children while i tell you stories about a magic man'..'pass the collection plate and donate more then you can afford. the more you put in the better your chance your magic wishes will be granted'


i have nothing against people using beliefs to calm their own minds and worry less about life.. but when it gets abused with lies and fundraising.. thats then my cut off point in caring about peoples beliefs

[Gyfts]

cognitive dissonance. is the lack of agreement of a thought. its the game or turning reality into fantasy by not agreeing with reality

this is mainly done by those that cant grasp the concept of a fact. and so play some fantasy illusion as their version of what they think it means. just to fill in details they dont understand.

there is a high correlation between the less cognitively aware someone is, the easier they are to be fooled into believing lies

im not saying atheists are smarter than religious people..
im saying that religious people have some cognitive element missing in their life which they need to fill with their beliefs. they dont trust their own subconscious thoughts so they plead out to the atmosphere for answers/direction/decision.

its like republicans. cant make decisions for themselves so seek out a master to lead them. and they auto trust that leader no matter what. even if it gets them into trouble

Why is it republicans that are only the bigots? All over the world we see liberals and conservatives that are stuck within their ways, (mainly politicians) who vote down the party line, refuse to compromise, and refuse to listen to any other argument that differs with their views.

It boils down to confirmation bias. People "feel good" listening to things that they already are aware of or agree with. It's too uncomfortable to debate with other people and hear things that might cause cognitive distance. So it's essentially just about feelings, as with most things.

[BADecker]

Why people do not change their views


Some people don't change their views because they are afraid of what they will really find there.