Most of Us Are Literally Living in an Alternate Reality

Geary Johansen: We are not post-truth - it's just we've moved into an era where epistemic rationality is valued far less than instrumental rationality (constructed truth with an ulterior motive)."

People simply believe what they want to believe. I'm starting to think that they could not care less whether what they believe is even true or not.

If it makes them feel good about the way the world is supposed to be, it's true.

If it makes them feel bad and makes them feel that what they want to believe is false and what they hate is true, well then the proposition is simply false.

Once people get stuck on a position it is very hard to dislodge. For one, you have to admit you were wrong. No one wants to do that. Everyone just wants to go through life blaming other people. It's so much easier that way.

Also you have to admit that you got fooled by a straight up lie, and that implies you're a mark or a sucker.

In addition, once people adopt social and political attitudes, they seem to become …