It's you!

People are generally afraid of thinking. It's tough and it hurts and there are no answers that can be arrived at easily.

It's why horoscopes and religions are popular. They provide the easy answers handed to you on plate. No thought process required. Being able to turn a brain fart or a newspaper chart into a metabelief allows for life to just be so much easier.

As much as I hate to jump onto the conspiracy nut bandwagon and talk about how we're all sheeple there is a degree of truth to it.

People will believe in stuff because it provides an easy answer or makes them feel good. They won't be aware that they are making this decision for those reasons but that doesn't change the fact that those reasons are still behind it.

There are often other reasons. Authority or tradition being other key ones. The revereance afforded to those in power allows them to exercise a strong influence on what we think. Whether the scientist or the Rabbi; we will be more inclined to believe if it comes from on high.

But that point still stands that critical thinking is a tough thing and as such people are more inclined to turn and hide in the comfort zone.

People will believe the nice story over the hard truth and the easy answers over the thought process. I know I do a lot.

tl;dr?