Analysis Of David Mcraney's The Backfire Effect

How far has the West come in the last decade? Before the current decade, the smartphone simply did not exist. The item which a vast number, if not the majority, of the population use all day, every day, did not exist prior to ten years ago. What a profound change. And yet, the science and reason that brought us this invention are not enough to force humanity to accept it in all facets of life. Something potentially responsible for this phenomenon is the Backfire Effect. David McRaney describes the Backfire Effect with great accuracy in his article “The Backfire Effect”: “coming or going, you stick to your beliefs instead of questioning them. When someone tries to correct you, tries to dilute your misconceptions, it backfires and strengthens them instead” (1). This unbreakable resolve for maintaining beliefs in contradiction to logic prevents us from seeing truth effectively. However, what drives the Backfire Effect? What drives the Backfire Effect is fear, peer pressure, and pressure from the media.
Fear is a major driver of the effect. There are many types of fears: some imagined and some real. With scientific advancement comes displacement. Jobs that were thought to be impossible to replace, like the mill worker, burger flipper, or waiter, have been replaced by factories, burger flipping robots, and tablets. These jobs, through a combination of taxes and rapidly cheapening technology, kills these jobs. This has happened since the dawn of time: the bronze worker was