Click Here to Print This Page

Cognitive Dissonance XIV

More Basic Training-Boot Camp

by John Pistorius

 

Each of us experiences life individually. Even if we have hundreds or thousands of others in our lives, we are alone. We have subjective reactions to everything we participate in or partake of. External conditions do not define cognitive dissonance. Therefore, our biased experience of life gives us personal power in overcoming it. We can choose to control our reaction to inconsistencies that might cause dissonance in our mind.

We can exercise our authority over the trouble that occurs within our mind when our current belief or outlook on anything is challenged. This statement might cause a confrontation in your mind if you believe something else. Nevertheless, it is true. This is because we have the right and power to command ourselves. We can decide to alter our reaction. We rule ourselves. Either by deliberate choice or by default, we rule. Each individual is empowered to control themselves. Too often, the power to control is abandoned or surrendered. Many people have relinquished their power and resigned themselves to preprogrammed responses to situations and circumstances. In so doing, they’ve handed over the power to others or given it to the dissonance that they experience in response to inconsistencies. But giving it away does not remove responsibility from the individual.

Learning that we have an effective means of influencing our experiences might be difficult at first. Like those who enlist in the military, we need basic training to learn strategies and techniques that help us combat the enemy. In the case of cognitive dissonance, the enemy is often overlooked or hidden. Yet, I must express again, we have the power to win. We only need to recognize it and use our influence to overpower our resistance to accepting our responsibility in the matter.

We can overcome our current negative reactions to new information if we accept the possibility of something different from our current belief. As previously stated, our mental acceptance of the truth or actuality of something gives it a form of ‘absoluteness’ to us. To overcome that unconditional acceptance or belief can be a challenge. Are you up to it?

Living in the Flat World
By planting new thoughts, ideas and statements, we can form new opinions. The world was once flat, according to those who were considered to be the premiere thinkers of that time. They were absolutely certain in the trustworthiness of that idea, thought or concept. It was the opinion and belief of others that spun their world view out of control and turned everything previously believed around. But how could that be? These fine scholars were flat out committed to their beliefs. They substantiated their opinions with known facts and figures. Yet in the end their beliefs were erroneous. The world was not flat. We laugh at the thought now. Scores of well-educated people had to decide between the old (flat-world) belief and the new (round-world) belief. The new (round-world) belief became an accepted opinion and now is our view on that particular idea, thought or subject. But it took time.

To overcome the dissonance caused by the conflicting world view, one had to first accept the possibility that sailing off into the sunset did not doom one to falling off the edge of the world. And so it is with our experiences with conflicting beliefs, opinions and views; We must first accept alternative ideas as conceivable, imaginable, likely, probable, or true. If we accept an idea as possible but not yet in existence in our lives, we allow ourselves to at least look at it. If we refuse to look at an idea, we will never allow it to manifest in our life. However, if we believe that an idea is conceivable, we will permit ourselves to consider evidence that supports the idea or concept. And that makes the difference in learning anything that was previously not known. The world begins to turn in the direction of the new thought, idea or possibility for us.

Cavernous Thought Living
We usually hold onto our convictions easily. Sometimes, however, we find new information emerging that fearlessly confronts our beliefs. This exposition on my experiences with overcoming cognitive dissonance might be presenting new evidence to you that brazenly confronts your beliefs. Are you a progressive thinker or still locked into the flat world belief system? Can you or will you permit yourself to at least consider the possibility of an opposing idea being true? Or are you so deeply entrenched in your cave of accepted thoughts that nothing can reach you? Do you burrow deeper when confronted with dissimilar cognitions?

Let yourself consider the possibility that what I’m writing here could be true. Take the first step to overcoming the dissonance caused by the inconsistency between my writings and your opinions, beliefs and ideas; Believe that what I’m presenting here is in essence an undiscovered or lesser known reality. If you can’t even allow yourself to think that this is possible, stop reading. Why waste your time? You will never step outside of your safe haven beneath the surface if you refuse to believe that it is capable of occurring. Give up now. It will not work for you. Hide yourself underground. Cave safety is your life. Resign yourself to just staying in your thought cave in artificial light and darkness. However, if you can permit even a drop of sun to shine on your nose, you can peek outside by accepting that maybe I’m giving you truth. Even if it is in a raw form like cane sugar before processing, it has a certain appeal that resonates well with your taste buds, if you allow it to pass the opening. Let it in and receive the wonderful benefits that await you.

If the weather person calls for hurricane weather, you prepare for high winds and pouring rain. If you bury yourself deep in a cavern with the fear of being blown away, you will be safe from the storm. If you never step outside, you would not know when the storm has passed. Holding onto your fear, in time you would not ever want to leave the comfort of the cave. You could comfortably hold onto your convictions in cave safety without it ever being challenged. And you would be right; No hurricane forces would ever touch you in the cave. But then sunlight would never shine on you either.

However, if you stepped outside and saw clouds, felt rain and chilled air, you might automatically believe that you were unsafe. But that fear would not necessarily be justified. In fact, in most cases, it would be a mistake to believe that you should retreat to the safety of your haven beneath the surface of reality. Yet you might believe that abandoning your trip to the surface made sense, especially if you were taught to move away from distrusted ideas by knowledgeable people that you had confidence in.

Even though clouds do not always equal hurricane force storms, you could believe that they did.

Unless you were boldly confronted with facts that clash with your belief, you might live out your life in fear of clouds, rain and wind. After allowing yourself to move outside of the confines of the cave, and learning this, do you discard the new evidence or your belief? Rationally, if you give yourself time, you realize that your belief was in error. Even if it rained every day for a week, you would eventually find that the sun does shine and all clouds do not equal impending doom. Yet it might take time to weather the storm and overcome the dissonance.

Unfortunately, many people are unwilling to discard beliefs that they have become comfortable with. They dwell in deep caverns of thought, hiding from any possible storm. The surface of reality that conflicts with their beliefs becomes the enemy. Those who reject dissonant cognitions undermine the (perceived) enemy territory. They refuse to even consider the possibility of venturing outside of the depths of the hole they reside in. They become absolutely certain that they are safer in the confines of the cave than they could be outside of it. They accumulate thoughts that reinforce their world view. They surround themselves with like-minded individuals. They read and study writings that support their cavernous convictions. This practice acts like tunneling to provide additional depth. They live in relative comfort, never seeing the world beyond their hollow chamber beneath the surface. In time, the excavation process can cause the mine created to collapse under the weight of the reality that presses upon it. But then that is another story.

Moving Out
One way to improve our chance of getting a glimpse beyond the caverns of thought in which we dwell, is first to give ourselves permission to progress in thought. A simple willingness to consider that life outside of our cave could be safe will provide permission to at least look at and consider the possibility. Language affects our beliefs. Our self-talk instructs us to accept or reject every idea that visits us. If we allow ourselves to incorporate non limiting language into our repertoire, we can find a way out of the depths of our cavernous thought patterns. To change ‘absolute’ thought patterns, we only need to change the way that we think. By refusing to hold on to ‘absolute’ thinking patterns you can raise yourself out of your intellectual limits and self-imposed bondage, and that is truly empowering.

Undoubtedly your first adventure out of your cave will be different from what you are accustomed to. The world might appear to be too bright. After living in the darkness of cave-based thought, opening your mind to the light might even cause pain by virtue of the dissonance. It is your mind. The disharmony can be overcome with thoughts of acceptance. Oh, we’re not there yet, sorry. We are moving one step at a time.

Steps to Independence

• Freeing yourself from fear begins by realizing that you are the commander of your mind. Get a grip! Grab hold of your mind and shake it into submission. You must determine which position or belief is accurate or correct.

• What is the truth of the matter? By asking yourself this question, you will activate your mind to seek the answer.

• When perceivable information sabotages our opinion or belief, we need to resolve the problem. You can overcome any threat to your personal sense of security by overcoming disharmony in your thinking through dealing with the threat.

 

The process of taking control of the disharmony satisfies your need for peace in thought. That is an objective reality. It requires unbiased, neutral thinking outside of the cave in real terms.

Caution: Watch out for the subjective trip wires and land mines.

Next time: Boot Camp Continues

 

Back to Table of Contents

Top of this page.