When evidence is complex, incomplete, or emotionally threatening, people tend to accept stories that are plausible enough and meaning-creating, even if they are factually weak.

THE CAUSAL LOOP DIAGRAM (CLD) ILLUSTRATES A SOCIALLY DRIVEN DYNAMIC:

* Greater uncertainty increases the need for meaning, which leads to the acceptance of plausible stories.

* Once the story becomes identity-relevant, challenges to it are seen as a threat.

*  Social repetition substitutes evidence.

NOTE: This diagram and explanation satisfies the condition of Leverage Point 1 described in an article  on leverage points and self-reinforcing discourse. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/leverage-points-disrupt-self-reinforcing-discourse-hodann-wguse