"destructive motives are generally simply due to an inadequate understanding of life"

You hit the nail right on the head!!! Perfect!!

While is is easy for you or I to see a motive as "destructive", I think it would be wrong to assume that the oil company executive purposely ignored the data.   I spent a few years working at NBC, which as you may know is a GE company. I went to corporate headquarters and the people I met truly felt that they were doing good things for the environment - such as being against dredging the Hudson River to clean up PCP's their company dumped decades before. The truth is, their data has some validity and if you listen long enough, you believe it.

It is not just a matter of being brainwashed - it is simply that the information they worked from, and their experience in the world, made them feel confident that they were in the right.   

The same thing with people who believe that George W. & friends plotted the events of 9/11.   The framework and environment that surrounds them makes it difficult to accept data they do not want to believe.

I'm just a guilty, and not afraid to admit it. My life experiences have pointed me in the direction I lead my life. I make my opinions known, just like everyone else.

It doesn't make me right, nor does it make you correct.   Life goes on.