Do people just hear what they want to hear?

Question

Do people just hear what they want to hear?

Answer 1

Yes most of the time.  Dale Carnegie wrote a book something called "How to Win Friends and Influence People."  Basically he said that people think of themselves and like to talk about themselves-their hobbies, etc.  

And that the best way to engage other people is to talk about what they like... Another person said most people are not listening but waiting to speak.

And a lot of people are not open to changing their minds.  They will listen to you but then continue on their spiel.  

Hope that helps.

Answer 2

Yes. They tend to turn a blind eye to the truth. This is best explained in a book written by Terry Goodkind  "People are stupid; given proper motivation, almost anyone will believe almost anything. Because people are stupid, they will believe a lie because they want to believe it's true, or because they are afraid it might be true. People’s heads are full of knowledge, facts, and beliefs, and most of it is false, yet they think it all true....they can only rarely tell the difference between a lie and the truth, and yet they are confident they can, and so are all the more easier to fool."

Answer 3

That is a very succint way of putting it. It is a human characteristic.