Believing contradictions works because the mind can simply exclude the conflicting object from attention

Evidence

Yet, in affirmance of the truth of a proposition thus impossible, persuasion rising to the highest pitch of intensity has been entertained. Why? Because the human mind having it in its power to apply itself to any object, or to forbear to apply to itself at pleasure, the person in question has exercised this power in relation to the import of the words in question, as above, i.e. to the import which, according to his experience, all persons by whom they have been employed have been constantly in the habit of annexing to them. But against an object which the mind has contrived to exclude out of the field of its attention, no objection can, in that same field, be seen to bear. Whatsoever, therefore, were the considerations by which he was engaged to endeavour to persuade himself of the truth of the self-contradictory, and therefore, impossible, propositions, remain without anything to counteract their force. — Jeremy Bentham, The Panopticon Writings, 618

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: Bentham’s psychology of self-deception — the willed withdrawal of attention as the mechanism of belief in contradiction — anticipates modern motivated-cognition research and deserves sustained reflection.
• XREF: Echoes the mechanics the reader tracks in surveillance contexts: attention management and self-censoring thought; also anticipates William James’s attentional psychology and contemporary ‘willful ignorance’ literature. — connects to: Belief systems respond to contrary evidence by discounting the evidence; People experiencing cognitive dissonance often avoid or reinterpret contradictory information rather than abandoning their beliefs when confronted with truth. — Festinger’s Law; A self-consistent philosophy can be completely false while inconsistent systems hold truth — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 2213 (+4 more)

Related

• Confrontation with contrary evidence can intensify rather than weaken firm belief. (similarity 0.81)

Broader Connections

• Belief systems respond to contrary evidence by discounting the evidence #complicates (0.80)
• A self-consistent philosophy can be completely false while inconsistent systems hold truth #corroborates (0.80) — Bertrand Russell, History of Western Philosophy, 2213