Summary of "I know the truth . . ."

Carlos Lopera    

March 24, 2012

Eng 099

Humans often ignore the facts and choose to believe the lies that they are fed. Most of the times they do not bother to further investigate to find out the real truth. The reason for this, perhaps we will never know. One article that describes such innate human behavior is “I Know the Truth, So Don’t Bother Me with Facts” by Jeffery Kluger. In this article Kluger explores the behavior of blindly believing in lies and possible reasons as to why this behavior takes place.

One study that Kluger clung to for support in his view was a study conducted by R. Kelly Garrett and Erik Nisbet. These two men who are assistant professors at Ohio State University, based there research on the rumor that was put out onto the general public. The rumor was that there was to be a Mosque was to be built at the Ground Zero site where the twin towers preciously stood. This rumor was the center of great controversy and conflict. In their study Garrett and Nisbet received the opinions of 750 people who had believed in one way or another that at least one of the rumors of a possible Mosque being built at the site. The two professors then experimentally tried to determine if presenting the facts to the group would sway their opinions and if it would how should they present such facts.

When conducting the study Garrett and Nisbet came to two main disappointing conclusions. One conclusion that they came to was that it is a fairly simple task to change someone’s ideologies with certain pictures and quotes. The second main conclusion that Garrett and Nisbett came to was that even in the greatest of situations fewer than a third of people were willing to convert their beliefs even when opposing information is given. Garret t also went on to refer to previous studies that showed even when people were shown evidence that their belief was not correct they clung to their wrong belief even stronger.  A possible reasoning for this behavior is the strength of the attachment that is between the human mind and the ego. This is not much of an explanation for such human behavior that is why researchers continue on their quest for more solid answers. One way in which they are seeking these answers is by studying the human brain in specific the area that controls reason as well as emotion.

There is a great journey ahead of researchers to find out why is it that humans choose to ignore solid facts and trust in false truths. Many different theories and philosophies have been presented to try and explain such behavior. The one thing that remains certain is humans would be better off with an open mind.