This is why MAGAs can't admit when they're wrong - Ohh that's RICH

[ihaveaquestion]

May 7, 2026
We know #maga thrives on identity #politics — MAGA is their personality, their appearance, their belief system, and their community.
And when that identity is challenged with facts and science, they don’t just disregard it. They dig in.

And now a new study from Nature helps us understand why.
Because researchers found that when people were shown the same charged political content 2 1/2 years apart, brain scans showed that changes in their emotional response to that content was not determined by changes in their political beliefs, but by changes in their social groups.

They are physiologically wired to protect their tribe, even if it’s at odds with what they personally believe. This is why MAGAs can’t admit when they’re wrong. They fear if they do, they’ll lose their friends.

[usonian]

1. Don't overthink it or over-fMRI it. Maga is a cult.

I post way too often about this for someone who never even took psych-101.

I took survival 101 in a career full of sociopaths and people who REALLY BELIEVE that the aged and infirm need to be euthanized.

How did you guess the Silicon Valley tech scene?

It's caused by people who project their weaknesses, failures and fears onto others.

Why does it cut across IQ?

Because less intelligent people don't want to think, and
more intelligent people don't want to (and can't) feel.

Anything but
Being a good and compassionate member of society that doesn't form an easily conned group.

It always starts with some "they're different" group as a scapegoat.

You can read up on the various factors: Projection, groupthink, denial, and so on. Those are the top ones.

Outside of studies, I have found that cults usually "legitimize" some socially unacceptable behavior as a "hook", and it comes at a price in dignity, opportunity and success. "But it feels so good"



And when you look even at the mafia as a cult, theft and murder are "legitimized"

“For us, to live any other way was nuts. To us, those goody-good people who worked shitty jobs for bum paychecks and took the subway to work every day, worried about their bills, were dead. I mean, they were suckers. They had no balls. If we wanted something, we just took it. If anyone complained twice they got hit so bad, believe me, they never complained again.” —Henry Hill

In essence, unearned "privilege"
for being part of the group
for being male
for being white
for having rich parents

Only after crashing do they regret it. And even Henry Hill with the mistress and the spoils lost it all.

“That’s the hardest part. Today, everything is different. There’s no action. I have to wait around like everyone else. I can’t even get decent food. Right after I got here, I ordered some spaghetti with marinara sauce and I got egg noodles and ketchup. I’m an average nobody. I get to live the rest of my life like a schnook.” —Henry Hill

But he gets to associate with better people, if he chooses. I do recommend getting out of dangerous and unpredictable groups.


NO WAY TO TREAT YOUR WAITER!

"Never go against the family" (I ain't posting that one.)