George Washington's teeth and the backfire effect

I've been a big fan of Matthew Inman's The Oatmeal for many years. His comics perfectly balance my love of education and reason with my love of crude jokes and absurd humour.

Whether he's obsessing about wombat poo or raising millions to restore the legacy of Nikola Tesla, The Oatmeal makes you think, squirm, and laugh.

My favourite comic is his 2017 pictorial essay on 'The Backfire Effect' that explains why it is so easy to accept some new facts and so difficult to accept others.

Using George Washington's teeth and what they were really made of as an example, Inman dives deep into the psychology and neurology of why we believe what we believe.

Here's a taste:

You can read the full comic (there's a clean version and a dirty version) here.