Marshal facts to tell a story that fits listeners' pre-existing frames

Much of what people believe is wrong. Here is one example: If only others would open their minds to my facts and my reasoning, they would see they are wrong and agree with me. The mind does not work that way. All of us are wired with pre-existing beliefs, accreted over decades. We believe what we believe. Read "The Political Brain: How We Make Up Our Minds Without Using Our Heads" from Drew Westen. He tested what happens when one of our wired beliefs faces facts that contradict it. So, in the run-up to the 2004 presidential election, he took 30 subjects — 50 percent of whom were strong Republicans and 50 percent of whom were strong Democrats — who watched video of candidates clearly contradicting themselves. As expected, each group rejected the contradictions as to their candidate but embraced the ones of the other candidate. But here is what is interesting. A brain scan taken of each subject during the experiment showed that the part of the brain associated with reasoning did not light up. No reaction. But the part of the brain related to reward lit up like a pinball machine when the pre-existing belief was confirmed. Bottom line: The brain gets rewarded for confirming what it already believes, not what it does not already believe. The lesson for lawyers: In persuading others, look for a frame that a person already believes, and marshal the facts to support it.