Cognitive Dissonance

Cognitive Dissonance is the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time. 

Feeling uncomfortable is a form of confusion caused by the brain 'short-circuiting' as it struggles to make a connection and decision based upon past experiences.  And those past experiences may have little or nothing to do with the situation that is immediately present.  But the brain (the ego) wants to come to an immediate understanding in order to make a judgement.  This judgment used to serve us well as a 'fight-or-flight' response.  It was a healthy fear kept us alive.  This kind of fear is the brain's default and go-to response, but fear can also overstep its bounds in an undisciplined mind. 

I believe emotions are a gift that are part of the human experience.  Science is proving emotions are a built-in system of chemical releases that stem from memories of experiences. These chemical releases signal an opportunity for growth, learning, and evolution. Whether that opportunity is accepted or rejected is up to the individual that is experiencing the emotion.

If a person can sit and simply 'be with' an extreme emotion, without reacting to it, just simply feeling it and moving through it, we refer to that person as mature, even as 'aware of himself'.

The opposite, is stated here in the movie Seven, by Detective Sommerset (Morgan Freeman) speaking to Detective Mills (Brad Pitt).

It's impressive to see a man feeding off his emotions

Now, I feel it is up to us as conscious and aware human beings to undertake actions that rewire our brains, and move away from responses based on fear of the unknown.  We can do this by looking at facts before us, putting aside our selfish desires, and focusing on the betterment and welfare of all people on this planet.

By taking the actions that rewire the brain, we begin to become more aware of our immediate and self-damaging behaviors. With out those actions, the mind remains undisciplined and we experience self-damaging behavior.


Let me illustrate .

Thought: "I want a soda."

It is a fact that adding large amounts of carbon dioxide and sugar to the human body is inherently poisonous to the system.  So after the initial 'I want a soda' thought, if a person consciously stops to think that they are considering drinking a poisonous liquid, then that person could be considered aware.

If a person does not have this thought, they may be considered either unaware of their own impulsive behaviors, otherwise, they are simply in a state of denial. And, the inability of a person to be honest with themselves is a form of insanity.

But let's say the person does have that conscious thought, 'this is inherently poisonous'. They are left with the choice of whether or not put that destructive chemical into the human body.

Also to be considered is, if the soda is consumed, what will be done with the empty bottle?

Lets say the type of plastic the bottle is made of is not recyclable in this state, and that the person has that information.  Here is another choice to be made. The choice of whether or not to pollute the environment/planet.

Logic, science, and personal honesty says: “DO NOT DRINK THAT OR POLLUTE THE ENVIRONMENT.  BOTH ACTIONS WILL EVENTUALLY KILL YOU.”

But the selfish ego says: “But I like it.  I like the way it tastes and I like how it makes me feel. If it eventually kills me and the pollution eventually kills the planet... so what?  I do I feel bad about it, but there's nothign I can do.  And I want to feel good now.  This is the way I prefer to do it.”

Many times the soda is bought anyway, and it is consumed. In other words, a person does what they want now, and regardless of the known negative consequences of such action.  If confronted by another person about their behavior, they experience cognitive dissonance.  The they become uncomfortable and confused.  Uncomfortable-ness and confusion can be construed as 'weaknesses' in our society/culture. 
In order not to appear weak, the ego rises up and the person will respond in the form of anger, denial, or 'running away'. This is our new version of fight-or-flight.

So what would be the difference between a the person buying the soda and a person addicted to heroin? 
The answer: Only the extremes to which each person would immediately go based upon their level of awareness.  Both care, but not to the extent to which they are willing to change their behavior.

That, I believe, is insane. And that is how we live.

  

*********

“People are locked into a box.  They see the box around them. 

They see the leaks and the holes, and the cracks. 

They go to the cracks, and they try to fix them. They try to patch the holes. 

But they don’t stop to think that maybe there is something wrong with the box itself. 

Maybe the integrity of the box they exist in is inherently flawed. 

The economic system we live in is a parasitic paradigm that is only going to lead to self-destruction.

We live in a very sick and fucked up culture.  We really do. 

Society is mentally ill. 

To be ‘normal, is to be messed up.  

But people don’t see that.” 

~HUMAN: The Film~ 

Human the film (2012) Part 1 from joseph mccoy on Vimeo.