Signs you're having cognitive dissonance

[Hygro]

Let's start a thread. But before we get started:

cognitive dissonance is not double-think! Double-think, related, is when you hold two contradicting viewpoints simultaneously, cognizantly or not. Cognitive dissonance is like the opposite, where you reject information because it disagrees with your already held views.

I'll start:

#1: when you have an emotional spike and a drive to respond, when you haven't even read the offending post.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

#2 When you quickly respond in an emotional way without even bothering to read what you're replying to! Sick of it

 

[Hygro]

#2 When you quickly respond in an emotional way without even bothering to read what you're replying to! Sick of it

I was almost like, I almost actually had a moment /selfdirectedforeheadslap

 

[caketastydelish]

When you feel cynical about life. Because you used to play video games and/or surf facebook all day but you overcame your addiction (even the withdraw symptoms) and now you need something else to pass the time. And you want to get good at guitar. And writing. And earn computer certifications.

Actually, I already have enough going on to have my hands full. Why am I sleeping all day?

 

[Rashiminos]

#3) You feel a pressing desire to silence the source of the offending information, especially with violence (eg broken monitor).

 

[Narz]

Did you misdefine cognitive dissonance to prove a point? Is this another serious-not-serious Hygro joke thread?

 

[Arwon]

Your head explodes

 

[Hygro]

Did you misdefine cognitive dissonance to prove a point? Is this another serious-not-serious Hygro joke thread?

No, nor do I know what you mean by joke thread. I guess I should clarify that "reject" means a non-cognizant rejection, like the information is rejected, not the conclusions that the information drives. In other words, it's not conscious.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Feeling threatened. But taking it as being angry at this brick of a mind. Hard to distinguish without a modicum of self-awareness from merely being angry at this brick of a mind. Not giving into such a feeling is hence perhaps one of the most important ways to fight cognitive dissonance. But that can also take some of the fun and passion out of it.

 

[Mise]

Tough question. Good thread idea!

For me it's when I go "yeah, but still...". I know when I do this that I've already made my mind up and it'll only change if I sleep on it and mull it over during the course of the next few weeks, months, or years.

 

[EnglishEdward]

Double-think, related, is when you hold two contradicting viewpoints simultaneously, cognizantly or not.

This is quite normal because reality does not fit into tidy either or boxes.

For instance:

(1) One can believe that light is both a wave and a particle at the same time.

(2) I can be both pro-immigration and anti-immigration at the same time.

 

[Kyriakos]

Isn't 'cognitive dissonance' mostly used for clinical cases? (asking, not sure).

I thought it was used to refer to very obvious/evident blocking out of some info. Eg, in some cases, if one is maimed, they might block it out at first, cause the shock is way too much to cope with consciously.

I don't think the term applies to people who just have knee-jerk reactions and poor debate/thinking skills in discussion, preventing them from identifying the other position in a non-strawman manner.

 

[Daw]

Isn't 'cognitive dissonance' mostly used for clinical cases? (asking, not sure).

No. It's quite normal to have it once in every while. Only if it becomes too frequent to worry you (or people around you) it may be considered to be an abnormality of clinical significance (or not).

I thought it was used to refer to very obvious/evident blocking out of some info. Eg, in some cases, if one is maimed, they might block it out at first, cause the shock is way too much to cope with consciously.

I don't think the term applies to people who just have knee-jerk reactions and poor debate/thinking skills in discussion, preventing them from identifying the other position in a non-strawman manner.

Wait... what do you mean, "The Sun does not come up in the East and does not sink in the West but the Earth is ball-shaped and spins," huh?!

 

[Farm Boy]

#1: when you have an emotional spike and a drive to respond, when you haven't even read the offending post.

A well written post may heat the iron early then quench the conclusion to achieve a sharper edge. It's a useful tool, and I'd guess people have it all the time, to varying degrees, when they think about anything difficult and of complexity.

 

[warpus]

Hey Hygro, this appears to be what "cognitive dissonance' means in psychology

In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, performs an action that is contradictory to one or more beliefs, ideas, or values, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.

This seems to disagree with a part of your definition. Just sayin'

 

[TheMeInTeam]

Isn't 'cognitive dissonance' mostly used for clinical cases? (asking, not sure).

I thought it was used to refer to very obvious/evident blocking out of some info. Eg, in some cases, if one is maimed, they might block it out at first, cause the shock is way too much to cope with consciously.

I don't think the term applies to people who just have knee-jerk reactions and poor debate/thinking skills in discussion, preventing them from identifying the other position in a non-strawman manner.

Botched definition in the OP aside, I it's fair to conclude something is wrong when someone literally can't grasp the dissenting view, or rejects it outright without considering the facts associated.

If someone is posting while thinking "oh, I'm ignoring evidence and I know it, because I want to believe what I believed originally, and want to convince other people of that belief without addressing the evidence presented", then they're willfully ignoring the discussion, but are at least intellectually honest with themselves and are probably not having a lapse in cognitive ability.

However, I suspect that isn't what typically occurs. People will instead think the evidence isn't credible/block it out, or think the argument they're seeing is wrong/stupid and ignore it without putting in effort to understand what's written, or worse just block it out as obviously wrong/possibly go the straw route.

Even if that isn't "cognitive dissonance", there is something going on with cognitive ability in such a scenario that is short of ideal, to say the least.

1st reply in this thread was pretty well-played btw .

 

[Farm Boy]

He's about right in practise. Cognitive dissonance is legit unpleasant and can lead to rejection of otherwise straight forward truth in order to preserve the mental status quo.

 

[uppi]

(1) One can believe that light is both a wave and a particle at the same time.

...and be wrong on both accounts.

 

[caketastydelish]

Moderator Action: Please don't feed the trolls.

 

[BenitoChavez]

...and be wrong on both accounts.

This gives me cognitive dissidence. If its not a wave and not a particle, then what else could it be?