I have been getting increasingly frustrated with people in this country... people who cannot accept or believe in the truth, even if they get the documentation they want, in black and white, and placed in their hot little hands. It is never enough for them and it will never cool their hot little heads.
Let me continue at this juncture, I understand in the worst way that people don't like to be wrong. I have been plenty wrong on plenty of occasions and I HATE it. I really don't like to be wrong or have my faults pointed out, it's a helluva lot easier to find them myself, own up to them and work on changing them. However, being human, does lead to the inevitable misstep, mistake, gaffe, and swallowing of foot up to backside moment. As I said, I HATE it... however, after I'm done justifying it, railing against it, I do try to learn something from it, so as not to make the same mistake again. This is especially hard for me, a person who tries to do everything as right as I can to avoid conflict. So, you can see, I have a huge emotional stake in having it perfect. I often try to remember (quoting my favorite musical), "Each day got through means one or two less mistakes remain to be made." (from Chess by Andersson, Ulvaeus & Rice, 1984).
However, I am done travelling to Tangentville for this moment.
There are several movements that are really confusing me these days, the Birthers, the Anti-Vaxxers and the Global Warming Deniers. They have some striking similarities. All three groups have overwhelming evidence, scientific or clearly documented, that their positions are wrong. Yet they manage to continue to spin ever more elaborate and fantastical conspiracy theories about why they aren't. I believe this is based, in part, on the human need to be right. As previously stated, I grok that in fullness, however at some point it seems like it's easier to me to just accept the truth than to keep learning new dance steps. It's much easier to look at three strips of bacon on a plate and say, "yeah, that's three strips of bacon" rather than learning complex aerobics moves with the plate on your head while insisting that it's really a banana.
Education is not a linking demographic for these groups, anti-vaxxers tend to have higher education levels than the general populace. The birthers and global warming deniers do not seem to reflect that. I could be wrong, since this is based on hearsay evidence from a quick perusal of internet articles. (I find it easier to open myself up to correction right off the bat, it's less emotionally trying.) I think the linking thread, at least for the general populace, is belief. For the political animal, it's more a case of expedience I believe, as evidenced by the speed at which they will change stripes in response to the latest polling results.... or at least what they believe those results to be.
Meanwhile, back to belief... these believers, as I like to call them, remind me a great deal of the operative in Joss Whedon's Serenity. He is a government agent who doesn't officially exist and is sent in to do the dirty work. It is not about conspiracies for this character, but about his attitude. To quote Inara after encountering the operative, "We have every reason to be afraid... Because he's a believer. He's intelligent, methodical and devout in his belief that (insert ANY action here) is the right thing to do." If a believer is convinced it's the right thing to do, it doesn't matter what that thing is.
I also think there is some level of cognitive dissonance involved with the folks in the Birther, Anti-Vax and Global warming denial camps which is a spin off of being a believer. Cognitive dissonance is when a person holds two conflicting beliefs at the same time, and the importance of those beliefs, the level of conflict between them and the inability to rationalize away the conflict, increases the tension for the holder. This can lead to several outcomes: changing a belief or behavior, changing how you think about the subjects, or adding on new ideas and thoughts about the subject. The dissonance is most powerful when it deals with self image. (h/t: http://changingminds.org/...)
When someone embraces a worldview, it becomes a part of their identity and self image. So conflicting ideas are not readily embraced without a great deal of tension. A simple example is to decide as a child that you don't like peanut butter, but over time you find you actually do like it. But at the point you started to like it, there had to be some mental conflict in the offing and the memory of not liking it. What if a person went along for thinking without a doubt they were of one religion or another, only to find later that their beliefs had eroded and they would be left bereft, without part of their "known identity" to rely on. (I know what this feels like, it's kind of like losing a limb, on which you stand, in a tree.)(A bit of intentional levity, but nonetheless true.)
Another important element is control. We know logically that we can't control the big world events, but we feel in control when we are managing the minutiae of our lives. Sort of like, you can't go help search for survivors in Alabama or clean up debris from the tornados, but you can text and send $10 to the Red Cross... control by proxy.
All of our journeys color who we are and how we perceive and encounter the world, but sometimes it's healthiest to just let go and fly.
I guess we come down to my individual observations of each group now...
As for the Birthers... I think that nothing will ever convince them that Barack Obama is our American-born, legitimate president. It's more than just where we was born. In their minds, there is no way that a black man can be the President of their idealized, 1950s white bread America. It doesn't fit the picture that they expect, so they have to continue to come up with reason as to why it's wrong without daring to breathe anything overt about his race. They find control by demanding more and more documentation. Going back in a time machine and being allowed to hold the squalling newborn isn't really what they want, they want a white president.
With the anti-vaxxers, they believe that the world (Western Europe, Canada, & the US) is disease-free and benign and that we can make it 100% safe & risk-free as well. So they fight a proxy battle against a perceived and controllable enemy, the vaccine; when the real enemy is an an unknown and unsafe world. The anti-vaxxers don't remember what the common childhood diseases of yesteryear looked like or the toll took, so it's easier to look at autism and make vaccines the scapegoat.
The Global Warming deniers believe that the world will always be the way they have known it to be. Their proxy battle is fought by denying that anything is changing or will ever change.
The real dilemma in all this is how to get people to accept change more comfortably. Sadly it's not that easy. Human beings resist change, all manner of unpleasantness, and they like to cling to beliefs that make them feel safe and comfortable. So finding a way to make change easier for people must be a key.
Science education has to be a large measure in leading the charge against the believers. Every one of the battles I have chosen have another convergence point, in the denial of knowledge and science. However the defunding of all education in this country, especially science education, is appalling. We are raising a generation of future factory drones, not critical and creative thinkers who innovate. The next generation is looking at bright futurse of working for McDonalds or Wal-Mart, unless they are in the privileged top few percent of corporate masters.
Knowledge is important. Science is important. Education is important. These are little things you can fight for that make a difference for you and the rest of the country.