Scientists Confirm the Effectiveness of The Big Lie - People Will Go To Extraordinary Lengths to Create False Justifications for Government Misdeeds

Washington's Blog
Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Adolph Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf:

All this was inspired by the principle--which is quite true in itself--that in the big lie there is always a certain force of credibility; because the broad masses of a nation are always more easily corrupted in the deeper strata of their emotional nature than consciously or voluntarily; and thus in the primitive simplicity of their minds they more readily fall victims to the big lie than the small lie, since they themselves often tell small lies in little matters but would be ashamed to resort to large-scale falsehoods. It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.

Similarly, Hitler's propaganda minister, Joseph Goebbels, wrote:

That is of course rather painful for those involved. One should not as a rule reveal one's secrets, since one does not know if and when one may need them again. The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous.

Science has now helped to explain why the big lie is effective.

Specifically, sociologists from four major research institutions investigated why so many Americans believed that Saddam Hussein was behind 9/11, years after it became obvious that Iraq had nothing to do with 9/11.

The researchers found, as described in an article in the journal Sociological Inquiry (and re-printed by Newsweek):


* Many Americans felt an urgent need to seek justification for a war already in progress

* Rather than search rationally for information that either confirms or disconfirms a particular belief, people actually seek out information that confirms what they already believe.

* "For the most part people completely ignore contrary information."

* "The study demonstrates voters' ability to develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information"

* People get deeply attached to their beliefs, and form emotional attachments that get wrapped up in their personal identity and sense of morality, irrespective of the facts of the matter.

* "We refer to this as 'inferred justification, because for these voters, the sheer fact that we were engaged in war led to a post-hoc search for a justification for that war.

* "People were basically making up justifications for the fact that we were at war"

* "They wanted to believe in the link [between 9/11 and Iraq] because it helped them make sense of a current reality. So voters' ability to develop elaborate rationalizations based on faulty information, whether we think that is good or bad for democratic practice, does at least demonstrate an impressive form of creativity.

As the study notes, this tendency of many people to make up false stories to explain why we went to war and then to hold on to such false beliefs in the face of contrary evidence is "a serious challenge to democratic theory and practice". Until people learn to think more clearly and rationally, they are easily manipulated.

All a government has to do is tell a big enough lie, and many people will swallow it hook, line and sinker. Or the government can just do something big - like starting a war for no good reason (or giving trillions in bailouts to the wealthiest corporations instead of the "little people" who most need it?) - and many people will struggle mightily to themselves concoct false justifications for doing so.

Views: 74

Comment

You need to be a member of 12160 Social Network to add comments!

Join 12160 Social Network

"Destroying the New World Order"

TOP CONTENT THIS WEEK

THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE SITE!

mobile page

12160.info/m

12160 Administrators

 

Latest Activity

Doc Vega posted blog posts
10 hours ago
Burbia favorited tjdavis's photo
21 hours ago
FREEDOMROX's blog post was featured
23 hours ago
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's blog post WHY YOU MUST UNDERSTAND AMYLOIDOSIS AND AMYLOID PLAQUES June 13, 2022
yesterday
FREEDOMROX posted a blog post
yesterday
Doc Vega commented on Doc Vega's blog post The Many Keys to Deadly Secrecy in our Government
"cheeki kea, thanks so much for your support."
yesterday
FREEDOMROX posted a blog post
Thursday
cheeki kea favorited Doc Vega's blog post The Many Keys to Deadly Secrecy in our Government
Thursday
cheeki kea commented on cheeki kea's photo
Thursday
cheeki kea posted a photo
Wednesday
cheeki kea replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"Greetings to you John, You're right and it didn't take long for those manuals to totally…"
Wednesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

The Many Keys to Deadly Secrecy in our Government

We now know thanks to the legislation of FOIA access to federal documents and evidence and the…See More
Wednesday
Less Prone favorited tjdavis's photo
Wednesday
Less Prone favorited rlionhearted_3's photo
Wednesday
John Miller commented on rlionhearted_3's photo
Thumbnail

Another incredibly Stupid!! What, no mirrors?

"Brutal post... not sure it’s helping anyone though."
Tuesday
John Miller replied to cheeki kea's discussion Tartaria
"Tartaria: the empire that built half the world's cathedrals, then vanished because someone…"
Tuesday
Burbia commented on rlionhearted_3's photo
Thumbnail

Another incredibly Stupid!! What, no mirrors?

"This movie portrayed plastic surgery as absurd. I guess the numbers in the real world are growing."
Tuesday
Burbia commented on tjdavis's photo
Thumbnail

Redux

"Ah yes, General Jussitri Smolletkov. Good tongzhi. Good tongzhi."
Tuesday
Doc Vega posted a blog post

Unusual Discoveries and Headlines

Archaeologists have discovered an ancient tool dated to be 6,000 years old, but even more…See More
Monday
tjdavis posted a video

Inside Texas HOMELESS HELL – Even Cops Don't Dare Step In! - Documentary

In this powerful documentary, we explore the escalating Texas homeless crisis 2025, where cities and rural areas alike are witnessing a disturbing rise in th...
Monday

© 2025   Created by truth.   Powered by

Badges  |  Report an Issue  |  Terms of Service

content and site copyright 12160.info 2007-2019 - all rights reserved. unless otherwise noted