I think it's learned behavior. Refusing to read thoughtful material is the same as being unable to read it.

If they step outside the box of approved reading materials, they risk being cut off from the herd. Along with their whole afterlife being flushed.

I was TBM once. Yes, I was born into it and didn't really have a choice, but we were all Mormon at one point. Are you saying you had a learning problem? Unless you are a nevermo, I will assume that you did.

When I was a mormon, I didn't even think to read up about genetics and whether it supported the Book of Mormon. I don't know why, but it was honestly something that never occurred to me. I think it's probably the same with most mormons. It's not exactly #1 on your list of things to do when you're a TBM. The church does a great job at keeping you very busy...

I think you need to re-read the title of this post and try to comprehend it a bit more. The mormonism might still be affecting your reading abilities. ;)

I think part of being human is having a blind spot where our own cherished beliefs are concerned. It's not a Mormon thing, really.

Most of us have unintentional blind spots. In Mormonism, blind spots are prescribed and celebrated by the brethren and reinforced by peer pressure. An added issue is not needing to read or comprehend because the still small voice has testified to them so they KNOW what's true without that pesky reading thing. Is it specific to Mormons? No, of course not, but it is incredibly common, enough so that it wouldn't be inaccurate to say it's a Mormon thing. Really.