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Conspiracy Theories: Why the Rational Believe the Irrational | Michael Shermer

Hidden Forces

CHAPTER

Why Do We Believe Things With Absolutely No Evidence?

Cognitive dissonance is a phenomenon that allows people to rationalize away contradictory evidence. In the book When Prophecy Fails, Leon Festinger describes an end of the world cult who doubled down on their beliefs after it didn't come true. He says this happens all the time when we believe things with absolutely no evidence or no meaningful amounts of evidence.

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