SOMETHING WE NEED TO FIGURE OUT IT SEEMS.
I used to think that when people received additional information which contradicted an assumption it would be a catalyst for changing their beliefs. This gave me some comfort and I was motivated to write for some current interest and political blogs in attempt to counter public narratives that weren’t true. The past six years I have had to reevaluate this. I have become keenly aware that there are people who are not going to be influenced by the introduction of information that is contrary to their assumptions. For some it even becomes more imbedded in their belief systems and they dig further into a fallacy.
In the case of the Covid virus it was astonishing to me that people would go so far to even risk sickness and death to protect certain beliefs. It was then that I began to sense the depth of these psychological tendencies and to get a sense of how many people were willing abdicate what is in their own best interest to protect certain behaviors and beliefs.
In the 2020 presidential election a man who misinformed millions of people about Covid and how to treat it received over 70 million votes to be President. Right now a political party has lined up behind him and a significant percentage of the population are supporting a presidential candidate who soon will be tried in Federal court for attempting to overturn an election and insert himself as a dictator. It should be noted this man is leading his political rivals in most public election polling.
I am not sure I understand the reasons for all of this, but at least I now have arrived at a consistent place where I know it exists. That an authoritarian candidate’s election bid is likely to fail brings little comfort to me.
It remains top of mind that this many people would follow someone like this. It is an indication of bigger problems in my opinion. For example, it appears to signal that there is an opening for a more savvy version of this man to be able to win the presidency in the future. My takeaway is it’s not only possible, it seems likely to me. I am going to spend some time trying to understand this phenomenon. It is a counterintuitive situation and yet we are watching it play out boldly in our midst. There’s something to be learned here about the human psyche if we are willing to study it and figure out why it exists. I hope we do.