How Myth Endures

This refers to urban legends (more specifically the mistaken belief that humans only use 10% of their brains), but it seems to me that it applies much more widely, especially in matters of religious faith, religious conversion (muslims converting to Christianity, for example), etc.

clipped from www.snopes.com Part of the reason for the long life of the myth is that if one variant can be proven incorrect, the person who held the belief can simply shift the reason for his belief to another basis, while the belief itself stays intact.