I would like to thank Ms. Riedmann for her excellent letter “On being open minded” (Feb. 7). Her concise yet accurate description of cognitive dissonance demonstrates the reason people frequently commit acts or hold beliefs that are not only not in their best interest, but can actually cause harm to the very things they care about and believe in.In less academic circles, the process is often referred to as human stupidity. For example, it can cause people to repeatedly vote for the same inept and corrupt politicians, ignore all their faults, and cling to false hopes that their lies are true. The real reason is that people just cannot admit to being wrong. Such is the power of cognitive dissonance.
Mark Henry
San Luis Obispo
This article appears in Weddings 2019.
The description of cognitive dissonance wasn’t that compelling. CD refers more to a feeling of discomfort when holding contradictory ideas. I get what you both were trying to say but you both are somewhat conflating CD with group think and confirmation bias. Like how this short article could be used to understand the behavior of either a Trump or a Hillary voter. Claims of corruption and lies are can be equally applied in this example. Each side can claim to have “the truth”. Yours isn’t so much an analysis but a polemic. This is why “truth” in our so called modern rational world is a circle jerk.