I had written about Cognitive Dissonance a few years back. You can read it here. Over the years, I have collected some more insights on the topic.
For the uninitiated, here’s a definition from Wikipedia —
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 their beliefs, ideas, or values; or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.
Leon Festinger, the psychologist who developed the theory of Cognitive Dissonance, figured that human beings do not deal with conflicting beliefs and perceptions by testing them against facts. They reduce the conflict by reinterpreting facts that challenge the beliefs to which they are most attached.
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