Yes, there have been many studies that indicate just how hard it is for someone to change a "hard-wired belief" - even if there is clear evidence (scientific, even!) to the contrary. It is, indeed, a human trait that perhaps ironically has been passed down through evolution because it helped our communal societies in the past.
I took a course from Dr. David Christian - he got his BA and Masters from Oxford University, and currently is a professor at a large university in Sydney, Australia. He clearly explains exactly how the stars were formed, the chemical reactions that took place to make it happen, and even how all those little carbon atoms eventually mixed with the right nitrogen atoms to help kickstart life itself. I took that course for free. Heck, Charles Darwin's Origin of Species is available in audiobook form on Youtube, for gosh sakes.
The point is that the truth is out there. It's easy to find. You can learn it online, in a classroom, or in a book. But to most, it's easier to just to pretend it doesn't exist. Since that information contradicts many people's hard wired beliefs, it's almost impossible for them to accept that their beliefs might be incorrect. That's just part of being human.
It's pretty easy to see that Atheism will eventually take hold, and the human race will someday live without Gods. However, it's going to be a long process and probably take 1000 years before it's more popular than religion. Hopefully we won't all kill ourselves because of laws created by invisible men before that happens.