There is a style of mental activity (I hesitate to call it “thought”) that seems obviously to be in the ascendance lately. It features espousing a position, opinion, or belief that’s easily demonstrated to be false — that is, in opposition to what anyone can perceive — and yet “doubling down” on that nonsense even when presented with facts.
The Journal of Social Psychology has a paper examining this phenomenon; they call it “symbolic thinking” and suggest that it’s all about projecting “strength” of some sort. That is, if you “stick to your guns” about the moon being made of cheese, that makes you strong, which is good, instead of stupid, which is bad.
To someone whose mind is “working” in this mode, meaning itself changes. Meaning is symbolic, not factual. That’s why they might have no problem at all with nonsense like “alternative facts.”
A more generalized description might be “they have no problem at all with nonsense.” This is a problem, from the point of view of the human species, not to mention several other perspectives.
