Maybe it's human nature, but it seems we all have a tendency to get really defensive when someone challenges our long-held beliefs, even when we're presented with substantial evidence to counter those beliefs.
I could talk about religion here, and it's certainly relevant, but there are lots more mundane examples too.
Take Blackberry versus iPhone. When the iPhone was introduced, many BlackBerry users defensively scoffed: "you can't type on that thing" or "it's not secure." Anyone who's spent any time with an iPhone eventually admits typing on virtual keys is different but not all that more difficult when you get the hang of it, and security issues have largely been resolved. Which mostly leaves BlackBerry believers with the sort of nebulous claim that "you can't beat it for business." But you only have to see the share prices of RIM and Apple to get a sense of which way the market has gone for their respective products. Nevertheless a core segment of die-hard BlackBerryists refuse to give in.
They're invested.
Take another example. The US is still the dominant economic and military superpower in the world. But it seems clear that its politics and economics are increasingly sclerotic and its power is waning. Might it turn itself around? Maybe. But there's little doubt China and India are catching up. Still, ask average Americans, even those you wouldn't expect to be typically jingoistic, and remind them that history is replete with examples of once great powers that were swept away by new ones and they become very defensive. America is different, they'll tell you. Or they'll pull out a handful of reasons why China will never replace the US.
To many of us living outside the bubble of American exceptionalism, we see where the US is headed. But to most Americans, they simply can't or won't. They're invested.
It's hard sometimes to remove oneself from beliefs and ways of thinking we've always assumed were true. People were invested in a flat earth even decades after the preponderance of evidence clearly showed otherwise. Some are still invested in creation myths even though the evidence for evolution and natural selection is indisputable.
It may be human nature to believe what we're comfortable believing. But at some point reason and facts must overtake belief and wishful thinking. Otherwise we end up making our opinions appear, at best, silly, or at worst, simply irrelevant.
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