We hear what we want to hear

Sometimes we listen for the things that reinforce our presuppositions and ignore anything that challenges them.

Lloyd did. He stubbornly held onto his erroneous presuppositions (that Mary was attainable) even when Mary introduced him to her husband:

"Husband? Wait a minute . . . what was all that 'one in a million' talk?"

"Still, a man hears what he wants to hear and disregards the rest." Paul Simon, The Boxer.