Why it's so hard to be open minded

Most of us have noticed how human beings tend to react to "consonant" (agreeing) and "dissonant" (disagreeing) data on a topic where they have strong emotions.

The recent findings of Drew Westen et al. are that humans, when faced with data that contradicts their strongly held positions, essentially "stop thinking" (the reasoning part of the brain shuts down). Humans also, when faced with data that supports their position, "feel good" (the pleasure center of the brain lights up).

This explains the enduring popularity (in some circles) of everyone from Rush Limbaugh to Michael Moore: we humans seem to have an inexhaustible appetite for being told things we already believe.

It makes phrases like "fact centered decision making" less laughable. I think we really do need to take extraordinary steps to remain open minded on topics we care a lot about - from global warming to transit to the War in Iraq.

Look at the bottom half of this article, and also here and here.