“If someone says, ‘I did not harass her,’ I associate the idea of harassment with this person,” said Mayo, explaining why people who are accused of something but are later proved innocent find their reputations remain tarnished. “Even if he is innocent, this is what is activated when I hear this person’s name again.”

Which is why charging someone with something is almost as effective, in the court of public opinion, as proving someone guilty. Most people operate under the assumption that where there’s smoke, there’s fire.

It harkens back to a primitive fear of being thrown out of the tribe and forced to fend for yourself in the wilds.

Conspiracy theories are a good example. Perfectly intelligent people, once something has been labeled a “conspiracy theory,” won’t go near it, even though, if they stopped to look at the science and facts, it might be true.

In other words, an independent thinker is not influenced by labels.

New psychological studies show that people tend to believe what they’re told first, even if later denial proves it false. This may explain why so many people believed Bush administration claims that Saddam Hussein was connected to 9/11…

…how many Americans believe their Government attacked them on 9/11? I wonder…