Significant idea: “when subjects are presented with data that contradicts their beliefs they often paradoxically respond by sticking to their biases even more strongly”

Claim: I agree with Kluger when he says that studies have shown that “when subjects are presented with data that contradicts their beliefs they often paradoxically respond by sticking to their biases even more strongly”

Reasons: some people have problems with admitting that they are wrong. They are scared of hearing the truth, therefor will deny any data proving them the opposite of their opinion.

Thesis: I believe that the studies that Jeffery Kluger presented in his text is true. When people get confronted with facts proving them the opposite, they hold on to their believes even more strongly and they refuse to admit that they are wrong even though data is showing them that they are. I think this is because they are scared of hearing the truth so that they will feel inferior.

blog 2

People have always been easily fooled by rumors and by things they read in the papers without knowing its fact. in the text " I know the truth, so don't bother me with facts" by Jeffery Kluger he gives an example of people arguing about a mosque that is planned to be build at ground zero, which he says is in fact "not really a mosque". researchers at Ohio State University wanted to see if they could make up peoples minds after presenting them the truth about the rumors. In order to succeed, how would they best present the truth? Two assistant professors of communication, R.Kelly Garrett and Erik Nisbet asked 750 people if they believed in the rumors about the mosque being built, every single one of them believed in at least one of the rumors related to the Islamic spiritual center. Less than a third of the people were willing to change their opinions even though they presented them with strong evidence proving them the opposite. Garrett believes that one of the reasons why people are so stubborn to hold on to their beliefs when someone contradict them, can be their ego, the fear of being wrong. Other investigators researching to see if it can have something to do with our brains, how we react when we get confronted. Jeffery ends his paper by saying that we should base our decisions on what we believe by fact and not only what we read or hear.

Blog1

What is happening to this world? I remember commercial as being something fun and unusual when I was little, at least in Sweden. Now everywhere I look I see advertising ads from company’s who wants to make money out of me. They are everywhere, at the subway, in the taxi, when I am relaxing at the spa, in the movies I am watching. I just want to close my eyes for a minute, I cannot let myself get brainwashed by their bullshit.

I started thinking about this problem when I read a text from Kalle Lasn called “Hype” in signs of life in the USA: “reading on popular culture” where he shared his thoughts about this huge growing market. He are telling us about a company called “the little monitors” who is “the most powerful micromarketing medium available today, they are in control of the screen you see on supermarket carts that are full with ads, this is so that you will get tempted to buy their products. Sometimes I believe that this is just something that your brain register and before you know it, you are in the trap! Buying something that you did not had in mind when you went there. I agree with everything he has to say in the text, for example that now a days when you drive through the countryside, instead of enjoying the beautiful view of wheat fields your eyes are distracted by huge billboards. This is awful!I feel sad to admit that Sweden has been reduced to USAs level of public merchandising. I cannot believe that we are letting people make money out of our dumbness.