We Prefer Our Sociopaths Well Dressed and Spoken

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Cognitive Dissonance

What would you do if I told you not to think about elephants? Yeah, I thought so. Me too!

Effective denial of a subject or thought is actually quite difficult to achieve on a consistent basis, particularly if it carries with it great emotional weight and impact. While the elephant mentioned above might have instantly popped into your mind the moment you read the words, by now it’s beginning to fade from memory…except for the fact I just mentioned it again.

Sorry!

But witnessing an elephant stampede, possibly being endangered by one, or someone being cruel to the animal, beating it mercilessly to compel a certain behavior, might actually leave a lasting impression that is extremely difficult to extinguish. Memory is an interesting phenomenon, one which encompasses sight, sound, smell, taste and touch into a billion different combinations carefully customized to each individual psychology. Continue reading We Prefer Our Sociopaths Well Dressed and Spoken →

A Duty to Know

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Cognitive Dissonance

Conversations Mrs. Cog and I have often revolve around awareness and knowing verses ignorance and belief. These discussions usually boil down to whether or not there is a personal responsibility to know. Or, at a minimum, a responsibility to question what we believe/disbelieve or are told to believe/disbelieve.

The dialogue often stalls when we confront a fundamental question; should we be held responsible to know what we do not know. If it never occurs to us to ask, if someone never informs us of what we don’t know, why would we even question what is commonly accepted as known?

Why indeed. Continue reading A Duty to Know →