There's a lot of good value in You Are Not So Smart's take on the Backfire Effect:
The Misconception: When your beliefs are challenged with facts, you alter your opinions and incorporate the new information into your thinking.
The Truth: When your deepest convictions are challenged by contradictory evidence, your beliefs get stronger.
Lots of people are blogging and tweeting about it, so it's worth remembering that the excellent Bob Carroll did a nice piece on it at the Skeptics Dictionary a while back.
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