June 28, 2013
IN THE ANNALS OF DENIAL, it doesn’t get much more extreme than the Seekers. They lost their jobs, the press mocked them, and there were efforts to keep them away from impressionable young minds. But while Martin’s space cult might lie at the far end of the spectrum of human self-delusion, there’s plenty to go around. And since Festinger’s day, an array of new discoveries in psychology and neuroscience has further demonstrated how our preexisting beliefs, far more than any new facts, can skew our thoughts and even color what we consider our most dispassionate and logical conclusions. This tendency toward so-called “motivated reasoning” helps explain why we find groups so polarized over matters where the evidence is so unequivocal: climate change, vaccines, “death panels,” the birthplace and religion of the president (PDF), and much else. It would seem that expecting people to be convinced by the facts flies in the face of, you know, the facts.
Also, the perch where I'd landed to eat this 6:15 a.m. meal offered a unique perspective on the casino. There were things that I never noticed about the casino as a member of the gambling community, but were revealed to me as a member of the dining community.
Like the gigantic Judge Judy game. Or the Deal or No Deal game. Or the Pawn Starsgame. And, at that point in the morning, each game was occupied.
Someone was playing a Judge Judy game for financial gain and/or loss at 6:15 a.m. on a Saturday.
I'd vacillated all evening and morning between finding joy and feeling devastatingly sad that this was a daily routine for some people. Watching someone become enraged by Judge Judy, however, mixed with the fatigue and the "chicken" and the sadness that is my gambling luck sent me over the edge.
I couldn't stop laughing. Probably seven straight minutes of giggling in the Seminole Casino restaurant area.
I was staying until bingo started.
Today's Photos:
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