From the September 2006 Idaho Observer:

Because rejecting truth "feels good"

Most of our disgust with the lapdog nature of the dominant media is focused on its refusal to simply report the truth. This perfectly fits in with our innate desire to blame anything but ourselves when things go wrong.

But brain mapping techniques reveal that "we derive pleasure from irrationally sticking with beliefs against evidence," wrote Dr. Drew Weston in a paper published in January, 2006, after completing research at Atlanta’s Emory University.

Dr. Weston’s research showed that, "there are flares of activity in the brain’s pleasure centers when unwelcome information is being rejected."

What this means is, once most people internalize a system of beliefs, changing those beliefs in the presence of new and compelling information may bring pain (in various psychological and social forms) while denying the new evidence to maintain old beliefs brings immediate biochemical pleasure.

The point of bringing this up now, on this page, is so we can better understand the full spectrum of issues associated with individual opinions and mass-mindedness. The more we know about how forces outside ourselves are taking advantage of our human frailties, the more likely we will be able to frustrate their intentions.

~With thanks to Barry Zwicker for dedicating a chapter of his new book "Towers of Deception" to the "tricks" being played to prevent us from seeing the obvious.