Apparently many people are less rational than I thought was possible. Yes it seems when people are misinformed to support their ideology, correcting that misinformation actually makes them believe it more.

Now as crazy as it may seem, I think this does make a kind of sense. When two contradictory pieces of information are presented to a person, they will tend to believe the one they like the best. That is absolutely understandable, in a no duh kind of way. Now we combine that with another point. When somebody tries harder to convince a person their view is wrong, the person will think they are being lied to, in order to cover the truth. Those obvious observations combined, are exactly what this study finds. And it's the reason it's so hard to have people think across party lines.

So yah, it may look insane (and it is) when viewed in the larger picture, but it seems pretty obvious when you break it down. It still makes me shakes my head in disbelief.

Sometimes we forget that other places exist, and think differently about things. That's one reason I like to pay attention to UK news. Reuters (Roy•ters) is my UK news source of choice. Think... British Associated Press.

Well this is how their Andrea Hopkins wrote about Sara Palin's pregnant daughter.

In America, where teenage pregnancy is a political issue and working moms subject to moral debate, the choice of Sarah Palin as the Republican vice-presidential pick has ignited a Mommy War.

How awesome is that? Its sets the tone that this is a story about a non-issue being treated as a big story by us silly Americans. Which I agree with of course. But what does strike me is the recurring fact that Republican politicians the traditional family values party, seem to rarely live in traditional family situations. That I find to be the interesting story.

Update

She also killed support for teen mother programs in Alaska, favoring abstinence programs. How funny is that!?