General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: I keep trying to grapple with Trump's appeal and I just don't get it. Now with mini rant. [View all]SheilaT
(23,156 posts)above the level of whether to get pepperoni or sausage on their pizza. (With apologies to all the vegetarians and vegans. The non-thinking of those are thinking about other toppings entirely.)
It starts very early on, especially for those raised in "religious" households. They're given the party line of the religion and told they must never ever question it. And most people don't. Or if they do, it's often only to make a lateral move, from being a Methodist to a Presbyterian, for instance. Or to get involved in an even more deeply fundamentalist sect. Cult.
Most people never wander very far from either the place or the intellectual milieu of their childhood. One of the reasons a genuinely liberal arts education is generally scorned in this country is that such an education attempts to make people think outside of their prior experience and beliefs. It's not easy for most people.
Top this with the fact that the vast majority of people in this country learn everything they know from television, and you've got an on-going education in ignorance. A lot of people cannot tell the difference between reality and fiction, and worse yet they don't think it matters very much. They think "The DaVinci Code" is historically accurate. They think all sorts of nonsense like that.
Worse yet, anything that can't be explained in 25 words or less is considered not worth paying attention to. I'll add that those who think the only book you ever need to read is the Bible are the worst, not necessarily because of their actual beliefs, but because the Bible is the original short attention span piece of literature. People who read it a lot honestly believe that every problem can be addressed and solved by quoting some short passage. More to the point, there is no sustained narrative in it, which means people who rely on it for their source of wisdom cannot begin to get it that not every issue can be explained in only a few words. It's why they don't understand evolution or climate change or math beyond addition and subtraction, because above that you need to pay attention for more than thirty seconds.