Wanting to Believe is More Powerful than Evidence

Some people are just stuck in their ways and it seems that nothing can even slightly sway their view on something. As the saying goes, history tends to repeat itself. Throughout recorded time, instances in which a person or group of people are presented the facts and evidence and their stance on an issue is unchanged are very common.

The Salem Witch trials are an example in which a party of people turned their eyes from evidence and followed the path of what they wanted to believe. The Salem Witch Trials were an instance in 17th century Massachusetts in which several hundred people, most of whom were women, were accused of witchcraft. This is an example in which judges and lawmakers ignored the evidence and science and chose to side with their beliefs in the witchcraft possessing women in Salem.

The Salem Witch Trials may be an exception to my point since it happened so long ago at a point in time when the church was up to all sorts of no good. A much better and more recent example of people believing what they want to believe with no regard to facts or evidence are O.J. Simpson’s lawyers.

The trial that was the spotlight of the nation was of the murder trial of a man in which almost everybody was sure was guilty. However, his all-star legal team and himself thought or chose to think otherwise. In the end, O.J. Simpson was deemed innocent thanks to an astounding upset led by his lawyers. While watching the clip of the final session when Simpson is deemed non-guilty, you can see one of his lawyers put his face in his hands as if he could not believe the outcome that he helped create. The watcher can infer that he doesn’t seem happy with himself because he helped a guilty man be ruled innocent and went against his morals. Simpson’s lawyers obviously new that he was guilty but ignored the evidence proving that he was and somehow pulled off the feat of having him ruled innocent.

Especially nowadays, it is vital to have the evidence and facts before creating a stance on an issue. Today there are more opportunities to receive information and many people have been exposed to false information and believed it. People on both sides of the political spectrum are guilty of ignoring facts and evidence to make what they believe seem true. The ignoring of evidence is a plague of society and it keeps it from moving forward.