Cognitive Dissonance

[marked50]

Being immersed in listening to the Republican Bizarre Convention (and exposure to other republican venues or people ) I am really encountering a high level of discomfort. I realized that my belief that people are rational has created this in me via the following understanding of cognitive dissonance (Question and Answer from About.com on the subject)

Question: What Is Cognitive Dissonance?

Answer: People tend to seek consistency in their beliefs and perceptions. So what happens when one of our beliefs conflicts with another previously held belief? The term cognitive dissonance is used to describe the feeling of discomfort that results from holding two conflicting beliefs. When there is a discrepancy between beliefs and behaviors, something must change in order to eliminate or reduce the dissonance.

I now know where the discomfort comes from. These people are not rational in the least and hence I really can't see them that way. I also have come to the understanding that there is something seriously wrong with them when they say/believe/act on what would create "cognitive dissonance" in any normal person. Examples of which would be:

--Obama is responsible for an autoplant closing that actually happened before he was President
--Somebody holding up a sign that says " Get a Brain, Morans"
--Railing against stimulus money and then taking it and then denying it
--Saying "Keep government out of my healthcare" and taking (and wanting to keep) Medicare.
--on and on

These are only a few examples of where there should be some "cognitive dissonance" in these people but they never show it. They really don't think or behave like people normally should ( I know, I know--they are just crazy) but 30%+ of the population?

Anyone else want to list examples?

[LiberalLoner]

1. Authoritarians. Same people who supported Hitler, Pol Pot, Stalin, every vicious dictator. They do

not think in the same way we do.

[immoderate]

2. Some people are not that rational.

I think some brains have the property of ignoring cognitive dissonance. I'm not sure if it's purely organic, but there is at least preliminary evidence that brain structure allows for it.

I would not call this definitive, but I read about a study that cites a balance in development between the amygdala, which is associated with "reflexive emotions," and the anterior cingulate, which is associated with rational cognitive functions.

Don't know if this si cause or effect, but an enlarged amygdala correlated with a tendency to magical thinking, while a developed anterior cingulate, lines up with more rational thinking.

Warning -- this was a reference to one study that caught my attention, and reflects my observations and biases. Don't quote irresponsibly.

--imm

[lumberjack_jeff]

3. Faith based politics.

They have faith because thinking causes literal discomfort.

[LiberalLoner]

4. Very good summation, thank you LJ!

[dogknob]

5. LUNTZ!

Frank Luntz. The GOP's crusher of language.

[lunatica]

6. These people 'think' with their emotions

In other words they don't think. They react and call it thinking.

[nolabear]

7. People can literally compartmentalize thoughts and feelings.

Because we share the outer world we mistake it for the prevailing reality. That's far from true. Each of us has an inner reality that is made of both evidence and belief and they often don't mesh at all. Beliefs are deeply entrenched and neurologically connected to all kinds of survival mechanisms that might have once made sense to us, and some that are in fact bizarre. In order not to be unbearably anxious when they don't mesh we place one thought or feeling in this walled off space and that one in another. It prevents cognitive dissonance. It also prevents change and healing when it's needed. That's a major goal of therapy, to slowly, gently remove those walls whole helping keep the anxiety from overwhelming. Unfortunately people also look to others to fix this for them and you get into that idealizing GOP situation. They so want to believe and the GOP takes full advantage of that. Hence the "good father" scenarios last night.

And yes I'm a therapist. And typing on an iPhone so forgive if typos abound.