Ashes, ashes “Motivated ignorance,” writes Peter Wehner in The Atlantic, 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. This is why, as cognitive scientist George Lakoff suggests, the truth (facts) will not set them free. Or as his former student, Anat Shenker-Osorio, quips, truth for some people is more an “I’ll see it when I believe it” proposition and not the other way around. Motivated cognition, she told Lawrence O’Donnell, “is a helluva drug.” Motivated ignorance is a widespread phenomenon; most people, to one degree or another, employ it.
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Ahmed AbdulKareem uncovers how American airstrikes, guided by Israeli intelligence operations and Yemeni informants, are amplifying civilian casualties in Yemen and shedding light on a covert military strategy with global implications.
The post Inside Force 400: Spies and Sabotage in America’s Covert War on Yemen appeared first on MintPress News.
In this column, professional speechwriter Chandler Dean provides partly satirical, partly genuine “How To” advice focused on a hyper-specific subcategory of speeches—from graduation speeches to wedding toasts to eulogies, and all the rhetorical occasions in between.
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Yay! You’ve been invited to a thing. But on the other hand: Shit! You’ve been invited to a thing. This is the eternal struggle: our desire to be included is in perpetual conflict with our desire to stay home and watch YouTube videos of guys going to every Rainforest Café in America. So here are a few tips about how to say no to a plan without saying goodbye to a friendship.
In a perfect world, try to be out of town when this event happens.
It’s still the Independents, stupid Six in 10 key state voters turn out sporadically or are not firmly committed, Post-Schar poll finds. Let’s dig in: In a nation where many voters have made up their minds, Denning [26] and Etter [age 48] are among the voters whose decisions about the presidential race are neither firmly fixed nor whose participation is wholly predictable. As a group, these voters do not exactly fit the description of being undecided. Some lean toward a specific candidate. Some even say they will definitely vote for that candidate. But age or voting history or both leave open the question of how they will vote in November — if they vote at all. The Washington Post and the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University surveyed 3,513 registered voters in the six key battleground states. The survey was completed in April and May, before a New York jury found Trump guilty on 34 counts in the hush money trial involving an adult-film actress.
Dear Candidate,
Thank you for your application. Should we move forward, here are the stages you can expect to encounter as you advance during a typical interview process with our team:
Why is the West holding back from the opportunity to seize the $300 billion of frozen Russian money sitting in its banks?
In today's BCTV Daily Dispatch: IWTV, Tom Brady, Superman, Doctor Who, Smiling Friends, The Boys, The Acolyte, House of the Dragon, and more!
The guide is designed to oust the Conservatives from Government – but smaller parties have questioned some of the recommendations
- by Aeon Video
- by Joshua Thomas
- by Abigail Desmond & Michael Haslam
An analysis of work patterns suggests that the rise in interstate migration since 2020 has largely been the result of an increased share of people working from home.
Exclusive polling reveals that four-in-ten voters wrongly believe they will just need a polling card in order to vote in the general election
Evacuees are seeking safer ground in the face of a brutal Russian attack, reports Joseph Roche
Today I had the pleasure of sitting down with Michael Barker, editor of the Fremantle Shipping News, to chat about technology and the human condition. We went deep!
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June 17th, 2024: This comic was inspired by a certain three-sided shape that MAY surprise you!!! Imagine if you are a UK Guardian reader and wanting to assess the options for an almost certain victory by Labour in the upcoming general election. Your understanding of the challenges facing the next government will be conditioned by what you have been reading in that newspaper. Unfortunately, there have been a stream of articles…
Video: Jeffrey Sterling was a CIA whistleblower. He is an attorney and an advocate for other whistleblowers. We discussed his experience, the problem of excessive secrecy, and the importance of whistleblowers to civil society.
By Norman Solomon: TomDispatch
While he can no longer speak to the world about the latest developments, Ellsberg will continue to speak directly to hearts and minds about the extreme evils of our time—and the potential for overcoming them with love in action.
Another one bites the dust: The pastor of one of the country’s largest churches—and who Donald Trump once named as a spiritual adviser—has admitted to “inappropriate sexual behavior” with a woman who says he sexually abused her when she was just 12 years old. On Friday, Cindy Clemishire told The Wartburg Watch, a religious watchdog blog, that Robert Morris, the pastor of Texas’ Gateway Church, asked her to come into his room when he stayed with her family for Christmas in 1982. She was 12 and he was 20 at the time. She said Morris molested her and then ordered her not to say anything about his behavior “because it will ruin everything.” The abuse continued for years before Clemishire confided in a close friend, prompting Morris’ wife to find out and Morris to step down from the ministry, according to the report. He eventually returned to the church and founded Gateway Church in 2000, turning it into one of the country’s largest megachurches with an estimated weekly attendance of 100,000, according to the church.
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