Why New Information Makes People So Angry

On Presidents’ Day, we posted our list of the best and worst U.S. presidents. 

Most people were happy to debate our rankings and offer suggestions of their own best and worst, but there were some who really didn’t like that we included Abraham Lincoln on our “worst” list.

The responses we got weren’t really surprising—a lot of people have really strong emotional responses when they learn that a deeply held belief might not be entirely correct.

When an idea is challenged that someone has held for their entire life—one they were taught in school, saw reinforced in books, movies, and TV, and never thought to doubt—it doesn’t just feel like new information; It can feel like an attack.

Because if this one thing isn’t true… what else might not be?

That’s a really scary thought for a lot of people. (check out our list here)

It’s much easier to reject new information entirely—to double down, dismiss it, or get mad—than to potentially have to rethink everything you thought you knew.

I mean, isn’t that exactly what happened when Edward Snowden exposed that the U.S. government was illegally spying on its own citizens? 

Instead of outrage at the government’s actions, a lot of people were mad at Snowden for revealing the truth—they labeled him a traitor even though it was the government that had betrayed the trust of the American people! 

It’s what we’re seeing play out right now with people mad at DOGE and actually defending government waste and corruption because believing that the DOGE findings are real shatters way too many comfortable and settled “truths” about government being trustworthy stewards, there to help people.

It’s literally the possum dumpster meme.

This kind of thing happens anytime someone is presented with new information that contradicts the comfortable version of reality they have always accepted, and to some degree we all do it.

For a lot of adults, education is seen as a box that got checked when they graduated.

They went to school, memorized what they were told, took their tests, and walked away believing they knew all the things they were “supposed” to know.

So when, as adults, they encounter new information that contradicts what they were taught, it can feel threatening. 

Because, if this one thing is false… what else isn’t true?

That’s a terrifying thought for a lot of people. 

It forces them to rethink assumptions they’ve held for years—maybe even their entire lives. So rather than grapple with that discomfort, many people simply choose to reject the new information outright.

Cognitive dissonance is when people experience tension between their existing beliefs and new evidence. It causes physical discomfort, so instead of adjusting their beliefs, they often dismiss, discredit, or attack the source of the new information to avoid feeling uncomfortable.

The public education system is to blame for a lot of this.

Public schools don’t teach kids how to think critically. They teach them what to believe. 

They don’t encourage curiosity; they train students to give “right” answers, and worse they teach kids to believe that they know everything they will ever need to know about a subject.

A while back I read an article that explained how when students were presented with information that contradicted their beliefs, they engaged in “disconfirmation bias”—accepting evidence that supported their views while actively rejecting anything that challenged them.

Of course this is by design. 

Public education wasn’t created to foster independent thought—it was designed to create obedient citizens. 

Early education systems were implemented, not to improve literacy or social mobility, but to instill compliance with government authority.

That mindset naturally carries over into adulthood leaving millions of people believing that they already know everything they need to know, and who react with hostility when confronted with truth that questions their “settled science.”

If we want our children to grow into adults who think critically, who aren’t afraid of the truth, and who don’t shut down at the first sign of uncomfortable information, we have to teach them differently.

That’s why we do this work. 

Our books don’t just teach kids history, economics, and government. They teach them how to ask questions, evaluate information, and think for themselves.

That’s the only way to break the cycle. 

History isn’t a finished story. It isn’t something you memorize once and never revisit. It’s something we should always be measuring the present against, always be learning more about, and always questioning.

And speaking of history…

Today is the LAST DAY of our Presidents’ Day Sale!

Just a few more hours to get our America’s History books and curriculum at the biggest discounts of the year.

You don’t want to miss this! 

Because real education is never “finished,” we have to raise our kids to be able to view learning as a lifelong endeavor. 

And that means teaching them how to be resilient enough to welcome new information, test it against what they already know, and maybe even change their minds. 

Luckily, kids are usually a lot more reasonable than adults, so the good learning habits we teach them when they’re young will set them up for a lifetime of growing, improving, and resisting the traps of cognitive dissonance and confirmation biased thinking. 

I have a feeling that this rising generation is gonna blow us all away with how prepared they are to shape a bright and beautiful future. 

I can’t wait.

—Connor