Anyone eager to confront genuine issues plaguing the nation–from staunch lefties to sober leaders on the political right–got a moment of respite today with the release of President Barack Obama’s birth certificate. But the moment quickly passed. Despite even far-right conservative leaders such as Arizona Governor Jan Brewer condemning so-called “birthers” over their heartfelt belief that Obama was born outside of the U.S., the most hardcore of them are still unmoved by the very document they’ve demanded to see.
How could this be?
Psychologists have, in fact, known for a while that skeptics will harden their existing conspiracy theories in the face of contradicting evidence. But here’s how to knock your Trump-loving uncle back on his heels during the next family gathering, courtesy of the Yale Cultural Cognition Project–it’s produced compelling techniques on the science of getting people to believe facts.
The techniques boil down to allowing partisans to maintain their political philosophy in the midst of accepting new facts. For instance, for “small government” conservatives, or what the YCC calls “individualists,” it’s strategically important to highlight the power of competition and the ineptitude of government. Namely, “Obama’s rightful fear of losing in the 2012 election forced him to come clean with his birth certificate, though this is just another illustration that government can’t do things in the timely manner.”
Each type of conservative philosophy will need its own justification. Join us as we take a deep dive into the psychological rabbit hole of rationalization and a potential end to the birth-certificate conspiracy.