Opinions on politics, nationality, energy religion etc., are often decisive and uninformed:
Informed opinions tend to be widely spread, but some opinions become polarised, with “no-man’s land” between, defined by one single bit. In the same way that digital signals are immune to interference and noise, binary opinions are immune to learning.
We hunger for simple descriptions of complex scenarios, and are often more interested in finding evidence to support our position (and that of our peers), than in finding the objective truth (which can be frustrating!).
The highly polarised US Election prompted me to make the entire chapter on prejudice available as a Free e-book download
And online: The Science of Prejudice
We think that it is the others who are prejudiced, but we all are:
There is no prejudice so strong as that which arises from a fancied exemption from all prejudice. – William Hazlitt (1778-1830)
See:
Why We Believe —Long After We Shouldn’t byCarol Tavris and Elliot Aronson
The Expressive Rationality of Inaccurate Perceptions
The poet Keats expressed views on the importance of “Embracing Uncertainty “
Nobody is immune from resisting science they wish weren’t true. Even liberals – Oliver Burkeman