Cognitive dissonance...!

There are a number of ways that people of all walks of life get recruited into cults. Share your experience here.
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David McCarthy
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Cognitive dissonance...!

Unread post by David McCarthy »

I've had this word cognitive dissonance rattling around in my brain these past few days.
It was used in context by a friend who was attempting to explain to a Ramtha faithful the psychological traps at RSE.
The conversation circled around typical RSE platitudes that eventually landed on this doozy of a statement..
JZ Knight is fallible like the rest of us But..
I have had unexplainable experiences with my teacher Ramtha....this is my proof he is real!
How many times have I heard that sort of statement?

At one time from my own mouth.. :oops:

David
In psychology, cognitive dissonance is an uncomfortable feeling or stress caused by holding two contradictory ideas simultaneously. The theory of cognitive dissonance proposes that people have a fundamental cognitive drive to reduce this dissonance by modifying an existing belief, or rejecting one of the contradictory ideas.

Often one of the ideas is a fundamental element of ego, like "I am a good person" or "I made the right decision." This can result in rationalization when a person is presented with evidence of a bad choice, or in other cases. Prevention of cognitive dissonance may also contribute to confirmation bias or denial of discomforting evidence. If not corrected, this can lead to further bad choices for the sake of consistency, rather than learning from mistakes.

Experiments have attempted to quantify this cognitive drive. Studies have not so far detected any gender or cross-cultural differences.


Festinger's theory

Social psychologist Leon Festinger first proposed the theory in 1957 after the publication of his book When Prophecy Fails, observing the counterintuitive belief persistence of members of a UFO doomsday cult and their increased proselytization after the leader's prophecy failed. The failed message of Earth's destruction, purportedly sent by aliens to a woman in 1956, became a disconfirmed expectancy that increased dissonance between cognitions, thereby causing most members of the impromptu cult to lessen the dissonance by accepting a new prophecy: that the aliens had instead spared the planet for their sake.[2]
Cognitions which contradict each other are said to be "dissonant," while cognitions which agree with each other are said to be "consonant." Cognitions which neither agree nor disagree with each other are said to be "irrelevant." (Festinger, 1957). "Cognitions" include knowledge, attitude, emotion (known as ambivalence), belief, or behavior.[citation needed]
The introduction of a new cognition that is dissonant with a currently held cognition creates a state of "dissonance," the magnitude of which relates to the relative importance of the involved cognitions. Dissonance can be reduced either by eliminating dissonant cognitions, or by adding new consonant cognitions. The maximum possible dissonance is equal to the resistance to change of the less "resistant cognition"; therefore, once dissonance reaches a level that overcomes the resistance of one of the cognitions involved, that cognition will be changed or eliminated, and dissonance will be reduced.[citations needed]
This leads some people who feel dissonance to seek information that will reduce dissonance and avoid information that will increase dissonance. People who are involuntarily exposed to information that increases dissonance are likely to discount that information, either by ignoring it, misinterpreting it, or denying it.


Link..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cognitive_dissonance
But he has nothing on at all, cried at last the whole people....
Whatchamacallit
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Unread post by Whatchamacallit »

" This leads some people who feel dissonance to seek information that will reduce dissonance and avoid information that will increase dissonance."

...and avoid information that will increase dissonance.
This is the key to past conversations we've had on the boards, about trying to reach a loved one who is still in RSE. If they are not ready to "hear it", they aren't going to. So, getting into a pissing match with them, on any level, is futile. It can only serve to destroy the relationship. All things in their own time. Gosh, if having a person in RSE, when you are in a relationship with them isn't a momumental test of patience, I don't know what is. Whew.
wolfman

Unread post by wolfman »

?I have my personal and unexplainable experiences with my teacher ?Ramtha??.This is my proof..!

Proof IS in the pudding. And the pudding sure do look good.

Now eat it and begin to digest it.

Phenomenon is like the carrot on a stick out in front of us.

Digestion is like the bitter tasting herb.
tree
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Unread post by tree »

I beg to differ wolf.....

Digestion is what comes out in the end........
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David McCarthy
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?Confirmation bias?

Unread post by David McCarthy »

Ok..

Here's another word to digest.
That may help purge those pesky parasites?.

Confirmation bias
In psychology and cognitive science, confirmation bias is a tendency to search for or interpret new information in a way that confirms one's preconceptions and avoids information and interpretations which contradict prior beliefs. It is a type of cognitive bias and represents an error of inductive inference, or as a form of selection bias toward confirmation of the hypothesis under study or disconfirmation of an alternative hypothesis.
Confirmation bias is of interest in the teaching of critical thinking, as the skill is misused if rigorous critical scrutiny is applied only to evidence challenging a preconceived idea but not to evidence supporting it

From Wikipedia
link..
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Confirmation_bias
But he has nothing on at all, cried at last the whole people....
tree
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Unread post by tree »

?I have my personal and unexplainable experiences with my teacher ?Ramtha??.This is my proof he is real..!
man, if I had a dollar for every time I heard that.
In fact, I could start a donation hat and invite current students to pass by.
There. Poof. My fabulous wealth has arrived!

"What do you mean? I have always been fabulously wealthy!" :D :lol:
wolfman

Unread post by wolfman »

No Tree........ WASTE is what comes out in the end.

Digestion denotes an action and "Digest" is a verb.

Waste is a noun........Just as PHENOMENON is.

The EL CAMINO was a phenomenon. Ha! Ha! Ha!
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David McCarthy
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Re: Cognitive dissonance...!

Unread post by David McCarthy »

he managed to nearly get himself killed by allowing his beliefs to rule logic and provable fact
Sound familiar? Cognitive dissonance can have deadly results for RSE members.
Great talk by Ash Donaldson...
Cognitive dissonance

Multiple-TED attendee and human factors expert, Ash Donaldson, wants us to better understand why we believe what we do. In this talk, Ash explains how our minds build belief and then breaks it down, showing us how and why humans are fooled into believing that things like Power Bands, anti-aging treatments and supplements actually work.
Along the way, he tells us how as a trainee pilot he managed to nearly get himself killed by allowing his beliefs to rule logic and provable fact.
TEDxCanberra - Ash Donaldson - Cognitive dissonance - YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NqONzcNbzh8
But he has nothing on at all, cried at last the whole people....
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