Cognitive Dissonance Theory, Journal #7

I'm Right & You're Wrong

  While it is frustrating to have other people question or disagree with our point of view, I believe the other point of view is necessary to some degree. Problems are seldom solved based on a single approach, oftentimes problems require multiple minds working together. But they have to be willing to work together, and usually it's always easier to work with people who think such as yourself. I don't think people should only seek out others who are like themselves to work with. After all, we are not all the same and we must learn to live with and interact with each-other. In fact, I would go so far as to conclude that our own future survival depends on whether or not we will be able to work together and set our differences aside.
  We all see the world differently and have had different experiences that there is no way that we will ever be uniform in thinking. This is something we should just accept and something that we should be appreciative about. We don't all share the same logic either and what makes "sense" to someone will make no sense to another, and that's OK. What it doesn't mean is that we should always be at polar ends with one another to the point of lunacy. In situations where we need to work with each other, I think we should first be open-minded and willing to listen to other points of view. I think that it is possible for two very different people with two very different perspectives to reach a consensus. However, I think it is not possible until we drop our ego's. I think it is our ego which causes us to lose respect for other viewpoints when it contradicts our own. It seems as if we are always trying to prove someone else wrong because in doing so we might make a name for our-self. Again, this is the desire of the ego; the need to feel smart and important and better than everyone else. If we were to drop trying to prove the other party wrong, then I think we could focus on the real issue's and work together.
  In terms of cognitive dissonance theory, I see it all the time and I think it's a very human response to how we deal with our concept of self. I think that once we have our values and beliefs concretely in place it becomes hard to change them. Then again, people can be easily persuaded, but it's most commonly done with rhetoric and not scientific evidence! Sometimes it is more about the show than it is about the facts of the matter. This is what troubles me the most. I'm not troubled about people who don't agree with me, I am more troubled by the people who fall for a false truth.
  Also, we are creatures of habit due to the comfort that we find in it. Thus, once we are in our comfort zone we don't want to leave it for something that appears contradictory. When we perceive things to be a threat we put up a wall and close off our minds, we may even stop listening because we don't want to hear it. Even when common sense tells us that we are wrong and we should stop a certain behavior, sometimes we rationalize it in order to keep doing it for some small satisfaction we derive from it. Part of thinking logically and being able to arrive at the right conclusion comes from being able to recognize a sound argument. Equally important is the other end of the spectrum willing to question the logic and examine how we arrived at that particular answer.