Asking people about novel statements would be a huge improvement over the protocol they described. You probably would see a difference then. Generally, the bra

Asking people about novel statements would be a huge improvement over the protocol they described. You probably would see a difference then. Generally, the brain evolved to be lazy. Our ancestors needed to spend their time finding food, not questioning reality, and so evolved to make a decision and move on. We only re-examine firmly-held beliefs when a great conflict arises and even then we spend a great deal of effort rationalizing to try to resolve the conflict without overturning the beliefs. Rational activities like science and philosophy, where you are forced to dig deeply into your assumptions, are very unnatural. That's why they're so hard to learn to do right.