Reply #14: It's all about cognitive dissonance [View All]

[prolesunited]

Current reality threatens their entire world view and underlying foundation. I think there are studies that show conservative see the world in absolute terms — it's black or white, no shades of gray.

When a relativist is presented with complex information and situations, they can process it in a way that sees relationships, connections, half truths, etc.

However, an absolutist cannot hold two contradictory ideas or perceptions simultaneously in their mind. This creates mental overload (dissonance). And the person experiencing it seeks relief. For them, the only option is discarding one of the conflicting ideas. Fed a steady diet of lies by Fox, Drudge, Limbaugh, etc., they discard the truth for a lie because the lies sound much better.

Well, that's how I would explain it FWIW.