Cognitive Dissonance

Scott Adams, in his continuing experiment in the lack of reading comprehension in the average American, discusses a great example of cognitive dissonance combined with poor logic. His readers responded as expected: with a complete lack of understanding of the point he was trying to make. Worse, Daily Kos joined in, once again demonstrating that popularity and intelligence seem to have an inverse relationship. Scott writes in a follow-up post:

But here’s the most interesting part. My blog on how Bill Maher and his panelists misunderstood Lomborg has caused a new round of cognitive dissonance. I have now been labeled a supporter of Lomborg’s arguments simply because I said I understood what he said on a TV show. Check this out. It’s somewhat jaw-dropping:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2007/9/28/21480/1840

And then Daily Kos and its readers voted. People wonder why I no longer bother. Nothing good can come of universal suffrage when you consider that the vast bulk of intelligence is concentrated in 20% of the population.