This article reminds me of the song 'Cult of personality' by Living Color. Have you heard it? If not, I encourage to you to give it a listen.
Also, could you give two abstract examples of this dissonance. I know you give two real world ones, but would you be able to make up one where people deny that evil is taking place.
I have heard the song, I remember it from a Grand Theft Auto game and enjoyed it. I'm not sure I know what an abstract example would be. The single biggest real-world example is Building #7 on 9/11, where millions of Americans turned their brains off to avoid having to accept that it was an inside job, despite staring at the most blatant proof ever. Scam artists who fake their way past security is a common example, and so are cold-callers impersonating tech support. Addicts often deny the damage they themselves have caused, and blame others because it's too painful to admit what they're doing. Denial and projection are common indicators of cognitive dissonance. It doesn't just relate to "evil" but that is when it becomes more extreme.
There's another kind of dissonance that can set in when literally everyone you know has been gaslighted into disconnecting from reality, while you can clearly see what is happening to them. Seeing clearly is not an effective defense. I don't have a name for that one. Defense or no, it was still possible to help reconnect a few, eventually.
This article reminds me of the song 'Cult of personality' by Living Color. Have you heard it? If not, I encourage to you to give it a listen.
Also, could you give two abstract examples of this dissonance. I know you give two real world ones, but would you be able to make up one where people deny that evil is taking place.
Thanks,
I have heard the song, I remember it from a Grand Theft Auto game and enjoyed it. I'm not sure I know what an abstract example would be. The single biggest real-world example is Building #7 on 9/11, where millions of Americans turned their brains off to avoid having to accept that it was an inside job, despite staring at the most blatant proof ever. Scam artists who fake their way past security is a common example, and so are cold-callers impersonating tech support. Addicts often deny the damage they themselves have caused, and blame others because it's too painful to admit what they're doing. Denial and projection are common indicators of cognitive dissonance. It doesn't just relate to "evil" but that is when it becomes more extreme.
There's another kind of dissonance that can set in when literally everyone you know has been gaslighted into disconnecting from reality, while you can clearly see what is happening to them. Seeing clearly is not an effective defense. I don't have a name for that one. Defense or no, it was still possible to help reconnect a few, eventually.