Cognition and Cognitive Offshoots

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From Daily Writing Tips:

Before my use of Facebook, I imagined that, apart from insignificant personal differences, most people I know agreed on matters of true and false, right and wrong, good and evil. No more. Now, I never fail to be astounded by how differently my friends and relatives and I may react to the same morning headlines.

In my search for understanding, I encountered the term cognitive dissonance. This is a feeling of psychological discomfort that triggers a reaction that can cause a person to deny reality.

Initially, I thought it was just another term for hypocrisy, but now I realize that it is a form of psychological self-defense that we all practice.

First, let’s look at the words that make up the term.

cognition (noun): the action or faculty of knowing taken in its widest sense, including sensation, perception, conception, etc., as distinguished from feeling and will.

cognitive (adjective): of or pertaining to cognition, or to the action or process of knowing.

dissonance (noun): lack of concord or harmony between things; disagreement, discord.

In the 1950s, psychologist Leon Festinger infiltrated a doomsday cult whose members believed the world was going to end by a certain date. He wanted to see how the cultists would react when the date passed and the world had not ended. As might be expected, some felt foolish, lost trust in the cult leader and moved on. Some, however, the most committed believers, the ones who had sold all their possessions and abandoned families and jobs, did not lose faith. They came up with reasons to explain why the disaster had not taken place.

Festinger’s A Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (1957) suggests that we have an inner drive to hold all our attitudes and behavior in harmony and avoid disharmony. This is known as the principle of cognitive consistency. When we do something or learn something that contradicts the attitudes and beliefs we already hold, we experience psychological discomfort. We have to do something to restore equilibrium. Anastasia Belyh describes it this way:

Cognitive dissonance refers to the feelings of discomfort that arise when a person’s behavior or attitude is in conflict with the person’s values and beliefs, or when new information that is contrary to their beliefs is presented to them. People like consistency. They want the assurance that their values and beliefs have always been right. They always want to act in ways that are in line with their beliefs. When their beliefs are challenged, or when their behavior is not aligned with their beliefs, this creates a disagreement (dissonance).— “Understanding Cognitive Dissonance (and Why it Occurs in Most People).”

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An example of cognitive dissonance often cited is Aesop’s fable of the fox and the grapes. In the beginning, the fox is certain that the grapes are delicious and that he has the ability to obtain them. When he fails in his efforts, he comforts himself by declaring that the grapes are certainly sour and not worth having.

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Unlike hypocrisy, cognitive dissonance takes place mostly on an unconscious level. When confronting an important decision, one that can have wide-reaching consequences for many people, it would be wise to examine our reasoning and ascertain the validity of our evidence.

Link to the rest at Daily Writing Tips

2 thoughts on “Cognition and Cognitive Offshoots”

  1. Now you’re talkin’.

    This just came up on another list as well.

    Cults and Cognition: Programming the True Believer
    https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca/blog/the-forensic-view/202010/cults-and-cognition-programming-the-true-believer

    I’m sure that I’ve mentioned this before, but a few years ago I asked the question:

    – Why are smart people so stupid?

    I mean, I’ve noticed this my whole life, but never asked the question like that. Over the past few years bits and pieces have started to come together with a possible explanation. This is the latest.

    Review of the book:

    The case against reality
    https://www.socsci.uci.edu/newsevents/news/2019/2019-07-22-hoffman-reality.php

    Start with his TED talk. Notice at the end, the head of TED is deeply upset by the talk.

    Do we see reality as it is? | Donald Hoffman
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYp5XuGYqqY

    A clip from Through the Wormhole:

    Can We Handle The Truth?
    https://www.sciencechannel.com/tv-shows/through-the-wormhole/videos/can-we-handle-the-truth

    This is his website:

    Donald D. Hoffman
    http://www.socsci.uci.edu/~ddhoff/

    Read this paper once you have watched all of the videos:

    Conscious Realism and the Mind-Body Problem
    http://www.cogsci.uci.edu/~ddhoff/ConsciousRealism2.pdf

    The book is available. Watch all of the videos first, it really does help understand the book.

  2. Why are smart people so stupid?

    Easy. Their intelligence is not informed by fact and experience, and then they use their intelligence to reason to conclusions.

    Alternatively, they have lots of facts and experience, but they find it in their self-interests to push a given agenda. The stupidity isn’t real. It’s just convenient. Think the publishers really believe they have a bright future in fiction?

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