It can be comforting to hold that bizarre beliefs and apparent resistance to fact are a sign of irrationality and detachment from reality. But partisan heuristics, political loyalty and insufficient reporting methods play a bigger role than the application of reason, painting an inaccurate picture of a world divided by divergent beliefs.

In 2004 an unnamed member of the Bush administration reportedly described critics as belonging to the “reality-based community”. Members of that community base their proposals on “judicious study of discernible reality”. We, the official said, “create our own reality” instead. The description of liberals as members of the reality-based community was embraced by the left as a badge of honor. Our view of the world is based on fact; theirs is based on fantasy, wishful thinking and prejudice.