Why People Believe False Myths Like “The Lost Cause of the Confederacy”
And what will — and won’t — change their minds
Our minds are wired to hold tight to our beliefs, even when they’re wrong. Changing them takes pragmatism and patience.
This week a friend asked me to explain why some people continue to believe and defend the “Lost Cause of the Confederacy” myth despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Here’s what he wrote to me, shared with his permission:
“After reading an article from The Atlantic on the enduring appeal of the ‘Lost Cause’ rationalization of the Civil War (which Lost Causers don’t even like to refer to as the ’Civil War‘, I am struck, as ever, by the degree to which people will embrace and internalize a narrative that provides them with an easy way to avoid cognitive dissonance and preserve self-esteem. I’m not even sure how relevant the concept of “fake news” is in such situations. As is evident from quotes cited in the article, people who subscribe to the Lost Cause version of history LITERALLY regard their version of history as ’fact,’ and the conflicting version of history as ’mythology.” Thus, their beliefs do not merely represent an alternative view, but an alternative view that…
