Ideology trumps facts, or why there aren't more freethinkers in the world (an oldie but a goodie).

There's a very interesting article over at Ars Technica that explores some theories as to why many people, when faced with information that contradicts an accepted view of theirs, have such an easy time dismissing the facts and sticking with their misconceptions. This article was published back in 2008, but, just recently became painfully obvious in my world.