I often wonder why or how people who seem perfectly intelligent about most aspects of life become completely impenetrable when it comes to (say) creationism, christianity, or 9/11 explanations. I came across this article which begins to explain the way we have been subconsciously trained to think. You can substitute various opposing points of view such as evolution v. creationism, as indeed the author did; it was initially an article about creationism.
How The Media and Establishment Brainwash The Public
There are two broad categories of theories about 911: first, are those who believe the Official Conspiracy Theory about 19 Arab hijackers doing the kamikaze number to paradise taking a lot of unwilling victims with them. This OCT has a lot of "baggage" in terms of unbelievable coincidences, but I won't go into all that now.
Second, are those who think that 911 was an "inside job" - a False flag operation and that the culprits can be known by examination of the data. There are actually several different camps (i.e. different theories) within this latter group, and there are hybrid groups (i.e. hybrid theories), but let us assume there are only two simple groups.
To visualize the two different camps, suppose there is a large field and there is a fence that bisects the field and you are standing at one end of the fence looking down the fence. On the right side of this fence are the Official Conspiracy Theory advocates (the people who make up the "establishment" and are ruled by the politics of the day because that is how they get their funding) and on the left side of this fence are the "911 Was an Inside Job" advocates (the people who disagree with the "establishment" point of view).
You have the choice of siding with the establishment or the renegades.
In some cases this choice could affect your job. For example, if you taught history or science or political science or just about anything in a public high school, and you taught "911 was an Inside Job" in your classroom, you would lose your job. If you are only looking for the benefits, and a promotion, then there is no question as to what theory you will teach. The Official Conspiracy Theory side of the fence has virtually all the benefits.
Suppose you want to know the truth (as best as you are capable of honestly determining as an "open-minded" person) - is the Official Conspiracy Theory correct based on the evidence currently available?
Suppose that you decide to start your decision making journey by talking first with the OCT crowd; because everything you have heard in school is that the OCT has been proven to be true. So you head to the right side of the fence and start talking to an OCT advocate.
Suppose this person tells you all the reasons why 911 happened according to the Official Conspiracy Theory. He might go into "well-understood principles", or claimed "clear observational records" and claims that "that everyone knows what happened", and so on.
After this conversation, you start to walk away, but the person stops you. Then this same OCT advocate starts telling you all of the things that are wrong with the "Inside Job" crowd. He tells you one theory after another of the IJ group, such as their nonsense about the free falling objects, thermate, small holes and missing planes at the Pentagon, and why each theory cannot be true and what a bunch of goons they are.
After this conversation, you now feel that you understand both the OCT's and the IJ's theories of 911. You decide it is not necessary to go to the left side of the fence and talk to a IJ representative because you already think you understand their views and why their views are wrong.
A Common Mistake
If you made such a decision, you would be making a common mistake: you have heard both sides of the issue, but from only one person on one side of the fence. You have really only heard how the people on one side of the fence feel about the issues. But you haven't heard the arguments of the IJ, from an IJ expert, nor have you heard why the IJ advocates think that the OCT's are wrong.
There are actually four categories of the two sides (these are the four things you need to hear to make an informed decision):
1) pro-OCT (from the OCT side),
2) anti-IJ (from the OCT side),
3) pro-IJ (from the IJ side),
4) anti-OCT (from the IJ side).
In other words, from the right side of the fence you have heard the Official Conspiracy theory arguments and also from the right side of the fence you have heard all of the anti-Inside Job arguments. But note that you have not heard the pro-Inside Job arguments, from an Inside Job expert, nor have you heard the anti-Official Conspiracy Theory arguments, from an Inside Job expert.
You have only heard two of the four categories because you have only heard from one person who is on one side of the fence.
Do you really know both sides of the issue?
No you don't! You only know one side of the issue and two of the four categories. Until you go to the left side of the fence and hear about the pro-Inside Job views, from an IJ EXPERT, and you hear the anti-Official Conspiracy Theory, from an IJ Expert, you don't have a basis for making an objective decision.
The Way We Have Been Taught
At this point we need to stop and think for a moment. We have been conditioned all of our lives not to listen to the "renegades." In physics, you hear how wonderful Einstein was, but you are told never to talk to anyone who challenges Einstein (someone like Roland De Witte, for example). In science class you were taught that evolution has been proven to be true, and you have been taught that the creationists are all a bunch of religious nuts.
This same kind of bias has been drilled into you for every conceivable type of issue. You have graduated from school thinking you have all the answers and that there are no open issues that need to be debated. In other words, you think the establishment is all-knowing.
All your life you have been taught not to listen to the people on both sides of the fence. All your life you have been taught by people inside the "establishment" and you have been taught that what the "establishment" teaches is true, and you have been taught what is wrong with the renegades and you have been taught not to listen to them. All your life you have been taught two of the four things you need to make an informed decision. You have been brainwashed.
And now I come along and tell you to listen to the renegades. Why? Because, quite frankly, sometimes the "establishment" is wrong. Actually, it is frequently wrong. There, I said it, sometimes the renegades are right! You will never, never know when the renegades are right unless you talk to one of them with an open-mind!
