“Have you ever noticed the peculiar tendency you have to let praise pass through you, but to feel crushed by criticism? A thousand positive remarks can slip by unnoticed, but one “you suck” can linger in your head for days. One hypothesis as to why this and the backfire effect happen is that you spend much more time considering information you disagree with than you do information you accept. Information that lines up with what you already believe passes through the mind like a vapor, but when you come across something that threatens your beliefs, something that conflicts with your preconceived notions of how the world works, you seize up and take notice. Some psychologists speculate there is an evolutionary explanation. Your ancestors paid more attention and spent more time thinking about negative stimuli than positive because bad things required a response. Those who failed to address negative stimuli failed to keep breathing.”

– David McRaney

Notes:

• Be sure to read full post and quote source @ Brainpickings – The Pscyhology of Why We Have a Hard Time Changing Our Minds.
• Find “You Are Now Less Dumb” by David McRaney at Amazon.
• Related Post: Above all, remember the more harm you cause, the more hate you feel…