This fake news phenomenon (this is the third and final installment of our current discussion; here are one and two) is related to the majority of folks’ inability to deal with cognitive dissonance. The stress we feel when we are confronted with data that is (diametrically or less so) opposed to the strongly held beliefs and ideas that we harbor internally. As such, we are more willing to accept fake news that doesn’t confront our beliefs- even if we suspect the “facts” have been uttered by Kelly Ann Conway (as in “alternative facts”).