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Life

Our psychology helps politicians bend the truth

By Jim Giles

8 October 2008

New Scientist. Science news and long reads from expert journalists, covering developments in science, technology, health and the environment on the website and the magazine.

HOW do politicians get away with bending the truth? The answer may lie with a fundamental psychological tool that we use to make sense of the world.

The current US presidential campaigns have featured untruths on both sides that have been notable for their durability. Politicians have been exposed for misrepresenting their position and then kept at it anyway, making the same misleading statements again and again.

Sarah Palin has taken much flak for this. To prove she is a fearless fiscal conservative, Palin touts her previous resistance to the “Bridge to Nowhere”, a multimillion-dollar link between mainland Alaska and…

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