Why are most people not persuaded by rational arguments? The sentence could look as a provocation for many people, but the thoughts are not always rational and linear. But why this happens? Is it possible to give a short answer?

"Counter to what you might think consciously, few people are really persuaded by logical and rational arguments"

source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gLFhCrTt-ZA&amp;t=1m20s
You may be thinking of the Backfire Effect. When presented with logical and rational evidence disputing a strongly-held belief, most people's natural tendency is to hold on even tighter to those beliefs rather than to reassess their position.

As for why it happens... that's a matter of some debate (surprise, surprise), but the general thinking seems to be that it's a mental reaction to avoid cognitive dissonance. The page I linked contains references to several studies on the subject, though as you might expect, the results vary.