re: #61 LudwigVanQuixote

The speaker was Chris Mooney :)

Heh. His points are also indirectly touched upon by Skeptical Science’s Debunking Handbook - they talk about how conservatives are horrified by facts that threaten their worldview and sense of self, but became less so after completing a self-affirmation exercise:

Self-affirmation can be achieved by asking people to
write a few sentences about a time when they felt good about themselves because they acted on a value that was important to them. People then become more receptive to messages that otherwise might threaten their worldviews, compared to people who received no self-affirmation. Interestingly, the “self-affirmation effect” is strongest among those whose ideology was central to their sense of self-worth.

That last part provides a valuable clue on how to break the hold the cynical propagandists have on their dupes.