Why fact checking can’t stop Trump’s lies -- Vox, 2017, 7:10 -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8DQ2kseTWw
Are humans rational thinkers? If so, then why do some people continue to hold false beliefs in the face of overwhelming proof against such beliefs? There’s a high cost to accepting evidence that contradicts our thinking, though this cost is much higher in the political field than in the scientific field. It turns out we all want to preserve our sense of self when presented with challenging information. Furthermore, the modern-day news media exacerbates this problem by frequently airing misinformation from politically-motivated parties. Even if such misinformation is later scrutinized on air, it may have already done irreversible damage since the people who have come to believe it will are now psychologically incentivized to combat countering evidence.