# 50. Self-delusion - the manipulation of self ## 50.5. Methodology/Refinements/Sub-species ### 50.5.20. Continued influence effect This is a form of self-delusion, which can also be used to the advantage of an external manipulator. This effect happens when a victim learns "facts" about an event that later turn out to be false, but the discredited information continues to influence the victim's reasoning and understanding, even after the information has been discredited and corrected. There are many cases where the general public continues to believe completely untrue stories, despite the "facts" behind the story being completely and comprehensively discredited. Manipulators take advantage of this phenomenon because they know that it is more important to tell a good story with a strong political message than to be accurate. The manipulator knows that any inaccuracies in their narrative are less important than the message delivered, simply because the corrections will be ignored by their audience. The influence of the original story will continue more strongly than any correction of inaccuracies.