Presented with credible truth and absurd lies, students believed the lie.

Evidence

Moreover, three of the studies found that students were not influenced by truthful accounts of the Holocaust, but instead believed denials that it had even occurred. That is, when they were given credible truth and a preposterous lie, they believed the lie. — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3319

Categorization

• SEED: An essay angle on how Big Lies outperform credible truth, and what that says about critical thinking pedagogy.
• DEEPTHINKING: This upends the Enlightenment assumption that truth wins when presented fairly — the mechanism of why lies beat truth deserves sustained reflection.