Even mistaken citizens may confidently hold reversed ideological meanings

Evidence

If, on the other hand, they were wrong without realizing it, then they would be capable of hearing that Senator Goldwater, for example, was an extreme conservative and believing that it meant that he was for increased federal spending (or whatever other more specific meaning they might bring to the term). In either case, it seems reasonable to distinguish between the people who belong in this confused group at the border of understanding and those who demonstrate greater clarity about the terms. And after the confused group is set aside, we are left with a proportion of the sample that is slightly more than 50%. This figure can be taken as a maximum estimate of reasonable recognition. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 1910

Categorization

• QUESTION: The inversion where a citizen believes ‘extreme conservative’ means ‘for increased federal spending’ suggests misinformation can be perfectly self-consistent — tracking how such stable wrong beliefs form and whether they resist correction would be worth pursuing.