I'm curious if my blog will have more views today because of the topic, (very unlikely) or because of the attractive figure of the woman walking in the water. If it does get more, I'm going to hope it's the former, but accept it's probably the latter. Either way, I'm proving a socio-psychological point in that--a point will be discussed at a later date.
Gather round, Piggies! (Nod to Miss Barbara Greene.)
Let's say for a moment I stand in the middle of a room full of people, and say "I have a quote to read all of you. I want you to tell me what you think of the quote, and in turn, what you think about the person based on the quote itself. I'll tell you who said it after I get your feedback. Ready?"
The room quiets down.
"I could stand in the middle of a busy street and shoot someone, and my people would still support me." I say.
A few recognize the quote and nod, a few don't.
I ask "What do you think about the quote itself, and who do you think said it?"
"Sounds like a criminal. Someone who thinks they are above the law. Probably a gang member on the rise. Or maybe a dictator?" someone asks.
"Any more guesses?" I say.
"Whoever it is, he's a magananimous ass for saying something like that." someone says.
"Would you consider the person who said this to be suspicious? Would you trust them?" I ask.
People shake their heads no, and the few who recognize the quote either sit quietly or are ready to argue.
"Donald Trump." I say. Then I show them the video where he said it during a campaign rally to prove I didn't make it up.
One of the people who is a die-hard supporter of Trump says "Well, yeah, he said that. But he didn't mean it that way. He'd never actually do it. He's just Trump. Trump is Trump. He doesn't know how to be politically correct. That's what makes him such a great president. He's a wild card. Plus, he's a Christian, and he's all about America. That's what's important, here. And besides, Obama did this and Hilary did this...."
Did you see what happened there? The person knew that was an asinine thing for a man to say, but since he is a supporter of this man, he has to find a way to reconcile the conflict that quote creates in his mind. He knows that if some random person on the street said that, he'd call him a criminal, but since it's the president, and the man he voted for, he now must either admit the president commited a huge blunder in making such a horrific statement, or he must find a way to put a positive spin on it. And not just to defend his man to others, but--here's the crazy part--defend him to himself.
This is called Cognitive Dissonance.
Let me show you two different scenarios so you can recognize the difference between cognitive dissonance and ignorance. Ignorance can be excused, cognitive dissonance cannot.
Let's say you vape regularly. Then someone told you that vaping is actually more dangerous that smoking cigarettes. You have been shown no solid proof of this person's claim, so you might say "You're wrong. Vaping is totally safe. No smoke goes into your lungs, just water vapor. I read that in blah-blah-blah..."
That's not cognitive dissonance. That's ignorance. You fully believe the person's claim is wrong, and until someone shows you hard proof otherwise, you are going to stick to your belief, however wrong it may be. Because to you, your claim is correct.
Now let's say the same person then shows you hard evidence of such. Maybe in a medical journal, or an interview with a respected doctor. Maybe even a celebrity you know and love backed it up as well. A celebrity you have shared on your social media page and sang his praises for being an amazing person who is so smart and how everyone should listen to them.
That celebrity just said vaping is dangerous.
Now you have a problem. If you admit the celebrity's statement about vaping is right, (or might be right) you now have to change the way you feel about vaping; or, at the very least admit you are going to keep doing it in spite of it being dangerous.
Or, (and this is the fun part) there is a third option: You have to come up with a reason in your mind that both the celebrity is right and so is vaping--
"Well yeah..." you say. "...but he's probably being paid to say that. He does so many good things for cancer research and standing up for little kids and so his agent probably said he should do that so it looks good to parents. But I bet even he vapes and just doesn't tell anyone. He's young like me, and don't we all go through that stage? The stage when we are in our late teens and have to learn from our mistakes? That's what I have to do, too. Learn from my mistakes. So if vaping is dangerous, I'll figure it out. But you can't expect me to not rebel a little bit, right? I mean, this is my time to be young and stupid!"
Cognitive Dissonance: Knowing what you are doing (or supporting/defending) is wrong, but creating a defense in your mind for the act itself so that you feel better about not condemning it and changing your belief.
Examples:
Finding out with hard evidence that your significant other cheated on you, but telling yourself that men cheat, and that's just how it is. Besides, at least he has confessed to it rather than hiding it from you. (All four times.)
Discovering the news post you shared on social media was actually not true, but rather than admitting you unknowingly shared a fake post, saying "Well thank goodness it wasn't true, but what if it had been?"
Claiming you really don't care about politics, but when every post you make is political in nature, saying "I just do it for fun. Who doesn't love making fun of current events?"
Calling gay people perverts, then when your best friend comes out as gay, you say "Well, he's not so open about it, though. He's not as sexual as some of these gay people you see on TV."
Making racist statements about the Hispanic population, then when your friend says "My mother is half-Latina." you say "Well yeah, but she came here legally. I'm talking about those Mexicans who are stealing our jobs!"
Knowing eating an entire jar of peanut butter in two days is bad for you (or at the very least, excessive) but saying "Well, I could be eating a lot worse, or I could be not eating at all! Peanut butter has health benefits too, and I eat it with bananas, which have Vitamin-K, and so many people are deficient in their Vitamin K...."
The famous pastor you love and respect defending a white supremacist group by not actively calling them out for their acts of violence, and you saying "Well, I'm sure he has a reason, after all, he's a man of God. Judge not, lest ye be judged, right?"
Knowing you should stand up for your friend who was sexually assaulted by a guy she met online, but instead saying "Well it's her fault for posting pics of herself wearing clothes that are so revealing. She's practically advertising her body."
I could go on, but I think you get my drift by now.
There are two ways you can go about your day after having read this post. If you see you have been guilty of cognitive dissonance, you can either admit to it, and change your way of thinking about that particular incident where you exercised it, or you can exercise cognitive dissonance again, and convice yourself as to why you shouldn't take it seriously.
"Well yeah, he has a point. But...he's___________!"
I'll let you fill in the blank.
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