Why You Can't Win That Argument on the Internet

No matter who you are, you've likely spent some amount of time arguing online with someone you just couldn't believe was incapable of accepting the truth. That may have been because they were susceptible to something called the backfire effect, or so were you.

According to author David McRaney's post on the subject, we have a tendency to believe things even more when our beliefs are challenged. The basic idea comes from how we handle negative information versus positive information:

A thousand positive remarks can slip by unnoticed, but one "you suck" can linger in your head for days. One hypothesis as to why this and the backfire effect happens is that you spend much more time considering information you disagree with than you do information you accept. Information which lines up with what you already believe passes through the mind like a vapor, but when you come across something which threatens your beliefs, something which conflicts with your preconceived notions of how the world works, you seize up and take notice. Some psychologists speculate there is an evolutionary explanation. Your ancestors paid more attention and spent more time thinking about negative stimuli than positive because bad things required a response. Those who failed to address negative stimuli failed to keep breathing.

McRaney points to several studies showing how people are willing to completely ignore scientific proof that their beliefs are wrong. Hit the link below for the full post; it's information worth keeping in mind next time you find yourself in an online brawl. Image by XKCD

Why You Can't Win That Argument on the Internet

The Backfire Effect | You Are Not So Smart
