As with many others, I have boggled at the number of folks able to promulgate outlandish beliefs that are without any proof and defy common sense understandings. A recent book, “The Complete Guide to Absolutely Everything” has provided some insight by discussing a known psychological phenomenon known as belief perseverance. All quotes are from that book.

Belief perseverance is the phenomenon that, “…humans are outstandingly good at defending our deeply held convictions, even when they’re proven to be spectacularly wrong.” The book gave examples of this behavior by looking at several cults whose doomsday predictions failed to materialize. What next? Conclude they were incorrect? Not a chance. Cult members either concluded their beliefs had, “saved the world from extinction” or revised their earlier predictions. Again, I quote, “..for people…invested in a conspiracy, there is a profound emotional and sometimes financial cost in their adherence to it, and it weighs heavily against choosing to pull out.”

Other examples abound. The authors also reviewed several studies by psychologists which demonstrate the phenomenon. My favorite involved scientists who were tasked with determining the volume of a sphere using a bogus formula. When they checked their results against actual measurements  which differed, rather than doubt the formula they, “…came up with some extraordinary explanations as to why the experimental results didn’t match the numbers derived from the formula.”

This explains a lot but is rather sad as it explains why outlandish beliefs, such as the “big lie,” which have been disproved numbers of times, persist.