People often focus excessively on evidence that supports their desires or beliefs while ignoring contradictory information, leading to skewed perceptions of reality. This selective perception can be likened to drastic treatments, such as shock therapy, employed to aid those unable to conform to societal norms, indicative of society's struggles to address severe mental health issues adequately.
When physician Walter Freeman died in 1972, he still believed that lobotomies were the best treatment for mental illness. A pioneer in the method, he was a deeply confident and charismatic man who eagerly spread the technique in America, long after the rise of alternative treatments that were less destructive. Listen as journalist Megan McArdle and EconTalk's Russ Roberts discuss what McArdle calls the "Oedipus Trap": mistakes that no one can live with, even if they were innocently made, and how admitting such mistakes to ourselves is nearly impossible. They also discuss the complexity of the credo, "follow the science."