![\"140426Chandler\"](\"http:\/\/www.littlerascalsdaycarecase.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/140426Chandler.jpg\")
March 8, 2015<\/p>\nMarch 8, 2015<\/p>\n
\u201cAs public debate rages about issues like immunization, Obamacare, and same-sex marriage, many people try to use science to bolster their arguments. And since it\u2019s becoming easier to test and establish facts \u2013 whether in physics, psychology, or policy \u2013 many have wondered why bias and polarization have not been defeated. When people are confronted with facts, such as the well-established safety of immunization, why do these facts seem to have so little effect?<\/p>\n
\u201cOur new research, recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, examined a slippery way by which people get away from facts that contradict their beliefs…. (They) reframe an issue in untestable ways. This makes potential important facts and science ultimately irrelevant to the issue….<\/p>\n
\u201cThese experiments show that when people\u2019s beliefs are threatened, they often take flight to a land where facts do not matter. In scientific terms, their beliefs become less \u2018falsifiable\u2019 because they can no longer be tested scientifically for verification or refutation….\u201d<\/p>\n
\u2013 From\u00a0<\/em>\u201cWhy People \u2018Fly from Facts\u2019 \u201d<\/em><\/a>\u00a0by Troy Campbell and\u00a0Justin Friesen in Scientific American (March 3)<\/em><\/p>\n