Cognitive Inertia / 认知惰性

Cognitive inertia is the episode’s explanation for why people often do not update beliefs when new evidence appears. In 132.争论与说服：我们为什么吵架，怎么才算赢？, thinking hard is costly, so a person tends to make the smallest possible adjustment unless the issue feels personally important, risky, or rewarding enough to justify deeper processing.

The concept helps explain why public-event rumors persist. A distant observer may have little incentive to process correction evidence, especially when the rumor supplies entertainment, outrage, group belonging, or a simple moral story.

Key Claims

• Belief change has a cost, so people often prefer low-effort repair of the old model.
• Personal relevance, risk, and reward can make someone more willing to stop and rethink.
• Cognitive inertia works with Tribal Truth / 部落真相 when changing a belief also threatens belonging.
• It also works with Cognitive Dissonance And Accommodation / 认知失调与顺应 because assimilation is cheaper than accommodation.

Connections

• Motivated Bias / 动机偏差 - desire and identity can direct low-effort interpretation.
• Elaboration Likelihood Model / 精细加工可能性模型 - persuasion depends partly on whether motivation triggers deeper processing.
• Information Cocoon / 信息茧房 - homogeneous information environments lower pressure to update.
• Rational Humility - discipline that counteracts easy model preservation.