The Motivated Ignorance of Trump Supporters

[robosmith]

The Motivated Ignorance of Trump Supporters

Quote

Motivated ignorance refers to willfully blinding oneself to facts. It’s choosing not to know. In many cases, for many people, knowing the truth is simply too costly, too psychologically painful, too threatening to their core identity. Nescience is therefore incentivized; people actively decide to remain in a state of ignorance. If they are presented with strong arguments against a position they hold, or compelling evidence that disproves the narrative they embrace, they will reject them. Doing so fends off the psychological distress of the realization that they’ve been lying to themselves and to others.

Motivated ignorance is a widespread phenomenon; most people, to one degree or another, employ it. What matters is the degree to which one embraces it, and the consequences of doing so. In the case of MAGA world, the lies that Trump supporters believe, or say they believe, are obviously untrue and obviously destructive. Since 2016 there’s been a ratchet effect, each conspiracy theory getting more preposterous and more malicious. Things that Trump supporters wouldn’t believe or accept in the past have since become loyalty tests. Election denialism is one example. The claim that Trump is the target of “lawfare,” victim to the weaponization of the justice system, is another.

I have struggled to understand how to view individuals who have not just voted for Trump but who celebrate him, who don’t merely tolerate him but who constantly defend his lawlessness and undisguised cruelty. How should I think about people who, in other domains of their lives, are admirable human beings and yet provide oxygen to his malicious movement? How complicit are people who live in an epistemic hall of mirrors and have sincerely—or half-sincerely—convinced themselves they are on the side of the angels?

Some of them are cynical and know better; others are blind to the cult like world to which they belong. Still others have convinced themselves that Trump, although flawed, is the best of bad options. It’s a “binary choice,” they say, and so they have talked themselves into supporting arguably the most comprehensively corrupt man in the history of American politics, certainly in presidential politics.

Whichever justification applies, they are giving not just their vote but their allegiance to a man and movement that have done great harm to our country and its ideals, and which seek to inflict even deeper wounds in the years ahead. Many of them are self-proclaimed evangelicals and fundamentalists, and they are also doing inestimable damage to the Christian faith they claim is central to their lives. That collaboration needs to be named. A generation from now, and probably sooner, it will be obvious to everyone that Trump supporters can’t claim they didn’t know. 

The name is COGNITIVE DISSONANCE. The act of reflexively DENYING REAL EVIDENCE which conflicts with what they WANT TO BELIEVE.

And we see several MAGA CULT exhibit that phenomena HERE EVERY DAY. 🤮

[WestCanMan]

On 6/21/2024 at 1:12 PM, robosmith said:

Motivated ignorance refers to willfully blinding oneself to facts. It’s choosing not to know. In many cases, for many people, knowing the truth is simply too costly, too psychologically painful, too threatening to their core identity. Nescience is therefore incentivized; people actively decide to remain in a state of ignorance. If they are presented with strong arguments against a position they hold, or compelling evidence that disproves the narrative they embrace, they will reject them. Doing so fends off the psychological distress of the realization that they’ve been lying to themselves and to others.

Buddy, you just described yourself and every other leftard from the covid threads to a Tee. You just described every "mostly peaceful protest" muppet to a Tee. You just followed the Jussie believers to a Tee.  Ditto for the 'no inflation' crowd, the 'successful Afghan withdrawal' crowd, the "hale and hearty Joe' crowd, etc. 

How many different times and different ways did we tell you that the jab wasn't working, and that it was injuring people, and guess what the actual 'science' says now? It says that you're an id10t. How many times did we tell you that Brown and Floyd weren't 'gentle giants'? 

Motivated ignorance is your life, boy. It's synonymous with leftard confirmation bias.

And stop trying to use the term cognitive dissonance ffs. You still get it wrong every time, dummy. 

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The name is COGNITIVE DISSONANCE. The act of reflexively DENYING REAL EVIDENCE which conflicts with what they WANT TO BELIEVE.

FYI cognitive dissonance happens after you allow competing thoughts to get through your confirmation bias and into your cranium. 

You never experience cognitive dissonance because you don't allow yourself to even consider facts that you don't like. You just say "It's all FOS LIES 😭" and then plug your ears and shout "LA-LALAAA-LA-LAAAAAAA!" and carry on with your id10tic rants. 

[gatomontes99]

There is so much projection going on here that I thought I was at the Megaplex watching a Marvel's marathon.

[West]

https://justthenews.com/accountability/media/jake-tapper-center-defamation-lawsuit-cnn-prepares-host-presidential-debate?utm_source=mux&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=social-media-autopost

 

Meanwhile CNN is facing a billion dollar defamation lawsuit after Jake Tapper defamed a war hero as he tried to cover for Biden's disastrous pullout in Afghanistan

[Nationalist]

On 6/21/2024 at 4:12 PM, robosmith said:

The Motivated Ignorance of Trump Supporters

The name is COGNITIVE DISSONANCE. The act of reflexively DENYING REAL EVIDENCE which conflicts with what they WANT TO BELIEVE.

And we see several MAGA CULT exhibit that phenomena HERE EVERY DAY. 🤮

What comes around...goes around...Tweenkie-poo.

Enjoy...

[User]

On 6/21/2024 at 3:12 PM, robosmith said:

The Motivated Ignorance of Trump Supporters

The name is COGNITIVE DISSONANCE. The act of reflexively DENYING REAL EVIDENCE which conflicts with what they WANT TO BELIEVE.

And we see several MAGA CULT exhibit that phenomena HERE EVERY DAY. 🤮

Um... look in the mirror. I am losing track of how many threads you have run away from now where you deny real evidence. 

My favorite being the Bush v Gore nonsense you pushed. 

[robosmith]

8 hours ago, West said:

https://justthenews.com/accountability/media/jake-tapper-center-defamation-lawsuit-cnn-prepares-host-presidential-debate?utm_source=mux&utm_medium=social-media&utm_campaign=social-media-autopost

 

Meanwhile CNN is facing a billion dollar defamation lawsuit after Jake Tapper defamed a war hero as he tried to cover for Biden's disastrous pullout in Afghanistan

Never gonna get $1B. He MIGHT get $1M to settle that NUISANCE.

[CdnFox]

On 6/21/2024 at 1:12 PM, robosmith said:

The Motivated Ignorance of Trump Supporters

The name is COGNITIVE DISSONANCE. The act of reflexively DENYING REAL EVIDENCE which conflicts with what they WANT TO BELIEVE.

And we see several MAGA CULT exhibit that phenomena HERE EVERY DAY. 🤮

Cognitive dissonance! ROFLMAO!!

I swear to god it's like you're deliberately trying to discredit yourself

[West]

7 minutes ago, robosmith said:

Never gonna get $1B. He MIGHT get $1M to settle that NUISANCE.

So you support defaming a war vet? Sad

[robosmith]

1 hour ago, West said:

So you support defaming a war vet? Sad

He has no honor for blaming the POTUS when the Commanding General took full responsibility.

[West]

2 hours ago, robosmith said:

He has no honor for blaming the POTUS when the Commanding General took full responsibility.

😆. Wow.

[WestCanMan]

2 hours ago, robosmith said:

He has no honor for blaming the POTUS when the Commanding General took full responsibility.

It's called being a 'fall guy', dummy.

Just like Trump doesn't deserve all the credit for his military successes, Biden doesn't deserve all of the blame for his military failures, but Trump and Biden were still the ones in charge, and the bulk of the success/blame always lies with them no matter what.

No commanding officer can take the blame for Joe, and if Joe's pretending that he can, it's just another example of how poor a leader Joe is. 

[West]

9 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

It's called being a 'fall guy', dummy.

Just like Trump doesn't deserve all the credit for his military successes, Biden doesn't deserve all of the blame for his military failures, but Trump and Biden were still the ones in charge, and the bulk of the success/blame always lies with them no matter what.

No commanding officer can take the blame for Joe, and if Joe's pretending that he can, it's just another example of how poor a leader Joe is. 

Not to mention cnn has a history of defaming children so I'm not surprised they defame a war vet

[Guest]

On 6/21/2024 at 4:12 PM, robosmith said:

If they are presented with strong arguments against a position they hold, or compelling evidence that disproves the narrative they embrace, they will reject them. 

Literally reflective of MAGA supporters, and the hard left. 

You can't denounce one, and support the others and expect people to see you as credible.

The hard left believes there are limitless genders. Effortlessly debunked, yet will put heavy handed funding behind silencing such voices.

Some even pushing for disagreement to be illegal. 

How is this any different than Trump disputing January 6th, or gaslighting people?

The issue is in both camps. There literally is no room for dialogue. They both have gone so far off the tracks, putting them back would be a waste of time.

If you point to all people with opposing views as the problem, you're literally ignoring you're the other side of that problem.

Many people like myself who have been centrists all their lives, have seen the extreme left permeate our culture profusely enough to have us nudged further and further to the right.

Instead of appreciating this may be that the message or part of it has gone away from the actual principles of being liberal, and would rather paint such dissenting voices as "alt right" or "MAGA", effectively silencing them.

And you're surprised such people would feel so disillusioned and fed up with having their voices silenced, that they would rather hire someone like Trump who is the pure opposition to that silencing, weaponizing their grief and their anger?

 

[WestCanMan]

1 hour ago, Perspektiv said:

How is this any different than Trump disputing January 6th,

Jan 6th isn't 'disputed', it's just lied about by leftards. And not just a little bit, molehill=mountain. 

It was NOT "an armed attempt to violently overthrow the US gov't", which a poster here said in the last 2 days, which judge Chutkan said, and which every member of the DNC constantly pretends happened, etc. 

It was "an unarmed protest/riot", which wasn't cool, but Trump sent tweets and videos out to stop that riot 3 times in its 3-hr span.

Contrast that with actual violent riots that the Dems openly and loudly supported for years without ever calling for them to stop. The Dems lied to get riots started and they lied to keep the riots going and they let people out of jail and bailed them out to keep riots going. Then all of a sudden one small rit affected them personally and we're supposed to believe that AOC got PTSD lol. Boo-hoo. Go to hell, skank. She should be in jail for inciting violence, not whining. 

What problem do you have with Trump's messaging about Jan 6th? 

[impartialobserver]

To be a diehard supporter of one party or the other... is proof of willful ignorance. Reality is not one size-fits-all. 

[Deluge]

On 6/21/2024 at 2:12 PM, robosmith said:

The Motivated Ignorance of Trump Supporters

The name is COGNITIVE DISSONANCE. The act of reflexively DENYING REAL EVIDENCE which conflicts with what they WANT TO BELIEVE.

And we see several MAGA CULT exhibit that phenomena HERE EVERY DAY. 🤮

You're projecting again, f*ckface, and that's not a good look. 

Anything the Republicans can do the democrats do a lot worse. that is a hard fast rule and it is indisputable.  

[Guest]

3 minutes ago, WestCanMan said:

What problem do you have with Trump's messaging about Jan 6th? 

The fact he didn't use all avenues at his disposal. An immediate televised national address to the nation, social media and any other relevant means at once.

Anything that urgent, should have been been done in an obvious fashion and directed to all Americans. Not just his base.

It otherwise looked like someone using a cup of tea to put out a fire.

What bothers me about it, is Trump gaslighting people about the urgency of his address, when that urgency just wasn't there.

He literally wanted to wait and see, and when he saw things being dire, was quick to reverse course.

Telling the truth doesn't make me a leftist. 

The far right have alternative facts and the far left somehow now have individual truths. Or "my truth".

I am in the camp of those who value the truth, and am fed up with politicians from either side of the aisle attacking it.

I understand why Trump has supporters, I just don't understand his need to feel the need to gaslight people about January 6th or stolen elections.

I dated an narssissist for years. You lose my support as a politician, the moment you gaslight me to believing total and utter BS.

Same reason I voted for Trudeau in Canada for his first term, and couldn't wait to give him an early retirement during the last election by voting against him. I plan to do the same next year.

If I lived in the US, I would feel like I was being forced to jog 50 kilometers in torn sandals, or barefoot, in a rural area with unfinished gravel roads.

No gaslighting can make a rational person believe either is a good option. One sucks, one sucks, plus will be irritating.

[WestCanMan]

14 minutes ago, Perspektiv said:

The fact he didn't use all avenues at his disposal. An immediate televised national address to the nation,

Do you honestly think that anyone at the riot had a TV with them? Did you see any video of a guy carrying his flat-screen with him?

How long do you think it would take for them to see something on TV? 5 minutes? 2 hours? 

Buddy, they wouldn't see that until they got home. That's not smart.

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social media and any other relevant means at once.

There ya go. Social media. More specifically Twitter:

1. the means of communication that he always used to communicate with people

2. the thing that they all had on their phone, in their pocket with them, at the capitol

3. the thing that he used 3 times in 3 hrs.  

On that day, in the heat of the moment, Trump figured out how to best communicate with those people, and he did it, 3 times. There was no need for a 4th because everything was under control by then.

It's 3.5 years later and you still don't understand why he chose Twitter to relay his message? 

C'mon Perspektiv, you're smarter than those people. Don't get sucked in by their BS.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

Do you honestly think that anyone at the riot had a TV with them?

That, in my opinion is irrelevant.

You're the president of a country.

Not only of your supporters. Meaning, your address must be directed at the supporters, but also at the country. 

It's an opportunity to reassure the entire country that you don't stand for this. You stand for the rule of the law. Something he has run on. Or is it only when the arm of the law isn't trying to pin him down?

If he truly wanted it stopped, not only would he have messaged on mediums they would have had access to, but have understood the optics of letting things run their course, without informing the public of what is going on. 

It's poor communications skills at a job where yours should be second to none.

3 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

How long do you think it would take for them to see something on TV? 5 minutes? 2 hours? 

You're missing the point. As a US president, you're serving a far larger cause. Leadership is the understanding of this.

If he had high emotional intelligence, he would have understood the importance to address the nation, vs alienate it with his silence.

3 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

Buddy, they wouldn't see that until they got home. That's not smart.

If he can't read between the lines as to why it would have been in his best interest, how can he run diplomacy across various cultures? Allies?

3 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

There ya go. Social media.

I like how you omit the *and, pointing to all media avenues available, including a televised address.

3 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

It's 3.5 years later and you still don't understand why he chose Twitter to relay his message? 

More of why he kept the rest of the country in the dark, even some of his closest allies who had no idea what was going on.

A televised address would have swiftly reassured everyone.

3 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

Don't get sucked in by their BS.

As a leader, there is a responsibility on your shoulders. I can't lead only the staff that I like. I must lead all staff. Communicate with all staff.

The success of our business relies on all of us. Its bigger than me, my ego or anything I could bring to the table.

You're running a country of over 300 million people. It's even that much bigger than you.

Whats disturbing is that people are either selling the hard lefts BS, or the hard rights and gaslighting to drive home their point, because honesty doesn't matter anymore. 

Questioning things that don't seem right, is no longer acceptable.

To me, that's BS.

[robosmith]

19 hours ago, WestCanMan said:

It's called being a 'fall guy', dummy.

Just like Trump doesn't deserve all the credit for his military successes, Biden doesn't deserve all of the blame for his military failures, but Trump and Biden were still the ones in charge, and the bulk of the success/blame always lies with them no matter what.

No commanding officer can take the blame for Joe, and if Joe's pretending that he can, it's just another example of how poor a leader Joe is. 

Joe mad no claims. The general IN CHARGE took FULL RESPONSIBILITY cause HE PLANNED IT, NOT JOE.

[herbie]

FFS perspective, among these Trumpalos, Russian trolls and MAGA retreads. you're a hard leftist. Nixon and Eisenhower are left to them.

[WestCanMan]

5 hours ago, Perspektiv said:

That, in my opinion is irrelevant.

You're the president of a country.

Not only of your supporters. Meaning, your address must be directed at the supporters, but also at the country. 

It's an opportunity to reassure the entire country that you don't stand for this. You stand for the rule of the law. Something he has run on. Or is it only when the arm of the law isn't trying to pin him down?

If he truly wanted it stopped, not only would he have messaged on mediums they would have had access to, but have understood the optics of letting things run their course, without informing the public of what is going on. 

It's poor communications skills at a job where yours should be second to none.

You're missing the point. As a US president, you're serving a far larger cause. Leadership is the understanding of this.

If he had high emotional intelligence, he would have understood the importance to address the nation, vs alienate it with his silence.

If he can't read between the lines as to why it would have been in his best interest, how can he run diplomacy across various cultures? Allies?

I like how you omit the *and, pointing to all media avenues available, including a televised address.

More of why he kept the rest of the country in the dark, even some of his closest allies who had no idea what was going on.

A televised address would have swiftly reassured everyone.

As a leader, there is a responsibility on your shoulders. I can't lead only the staff that I like. I must lead all staff. Communicate with all staff.

The success of our business relies on all of us. Its bigger than me, my ego or anything I could bring to the table.

You're running a country of over 300 million people. It's even that much bigger than you.

Whats disturbing is that people are either selling the hard lefts BS, or the hard rights and gaslighting to drive home their point, because honesty doesn't matter anymore. 

Questioning things that don't seem right, is no longer acceptable.

To me, that's BS.

This is about 1 thing, and one thing only: the president doing what he could to end the almost entirely peaceful and joyous celebration of democracy.

1 thing.

You're conflating that 1 thing with "ending CNN's false 'end of the world' narrative". 

FYI nothing that Trump did or said was going to be enough to tone down CNN's end of the world fearfest, because nothing that Trump did or said could compel CNN to tell the truth. CNN's actual job was and still is stir to up hatred and fear of Trump.

Trump had to focus on doing reasonable things to bring a quick halt to the riot, which he quite clearly did. 

 

Question:

Do you honestly think

1. it was "a violent, armed insurrection"?
2. they "almost overthrow the US gov't"?
3. there were some "seditious mobs" there?
4. all those yokels planned a "violent armed insurrection" and got enough people to the capitol to overthrow the US gov't without the FBI knowing? 

We're 100% at impasse if you believe any of that bullshit. 

If it really was an "armed insurrection", the FBI knew about it, and Pelosi should have allowed the Nat Guard to protect the capitol.

Pelosi wanted that riot to occur so that she could get this photo op:

That's why the security outside of the capitol looked like this:

FBI & Pelosi: "OMG there's a violent armed insurrection coming with enough power to overthrow the US gov't! Let's form a wall of cops 1-man thick, spread 5 feet apart. That should save the free world!" 

Edited June 26, 2024 by WestCanMan

[WestCanMan]

39 minutes ago, robosmith said:

Joe mad no claims. The general IN CHARGE took FULL RESPONSIBILITY cause HE PLANNED IT, NOT JOE.

Oh, fer sure, eh? The general did that all on his own, and then everyone quickly accepted his statement as the only possible truth and that's that. Done like dinner.

 

Do you even know what a fall guy is, dummy?

A fall guy is a person who admits to whatever he has to in order take on all of the blame himself, thereby absolving everyone above him of guilt. Fall guys are there for no other reason than to suck muppets like you in. The fact that you believe this story is just more evidence that he's a fall guy. 

[Nationalist]

1 hour ago, robosmith said:

Joe mad no claims. The general IN CHARGE took FULL RESPONSIBILITY cause HE PLANNED IT, NOT JOE.

Errr...

https://www.politico.com/news/2021/09/28/top-generals-afghanistan-withdrawal-congress-hearing-514491

 

Edited June 26, 2024 by Nationalist