I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter , with examples demonstrating their ignorance of the concept.
smiddy
Do You Think"Any" Jehovah`s Witness Understands The Concept Of Cognitive Dissonance ? Are They Capable Of Comprehending The Meaning ?
by smiddy 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs
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Phizzy
I had not heard of the concept until I started reading on this site, I found this quote useful in explaining what happens to the JW mind:
"Cognitive dissonance is the term used to describe what happens to a person when he accepts multiple, conflicting information at the same time. Rather than have to deal with conflicting thoughts, a person almost "separates" himself from reality. He starts to deny anything is wrong and continues to tell people, "Everything is fine. Just wait until I get there. Then you'll see I was right." In reality, this leads to both a further detachment from reality and a further attachment to the group's values. And if a person were to question the conflicting information presented to him, he would probably be told, "Your question means you don't understand the material. Continue learning and then it will become clear." This "separation" occurs at about the same time that a person starts to lose his critical thinking..."
One example is the Bibles chronology, which puts the first man on the Earth circa 6,000 years ago, and then finding out that Gobbekli Tepe is 11,000 years old and there are much older human activites with definite evidence of their great age.
The mental hoops that a JW has to go through to hold these two opposing concepts involve some reasoning which even they must feel is dodgy.
There are hundreds of examples of this, I will let others name some, but the point is that the mental condition of Cog. Diss., if in the mind in large measure as it is with every J.W, is extremely bad for you, it is a constant stress inducing pressure, which may account for the large number of J.W's suffering from deprssion compared with the normal people not in the Cult.
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Witness My Fury
Ditto, I was nearly 40 before I'd even heard of the term and looked it up and that was reading it here, ....Im considered quite intelligent too
So in answer to your question, no, the average dub has never heard of the term or what it means. Unless the JW has exposure to the term thru work, research, or 'outside' reading material it certainly never comes up for discussion in JW material or circles.
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inbetween
never heard of it before coming to this "apostate" site ;-)
JW sometimes "feel" it though, I remember thinking, that some things do not add up or make sense, but in this case the "waiting for Jah" or "blaming youself" mode kicks in...
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rip van winkle
Can only speak for myself. When I was awakening and had already been lurking on this site, I understood that the conflict I felt for a long time had a name to it. And I actually felt the struggle of what I had been taught and what I had believed. Overwhelming.
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carla
I think my jw considers it an apostate term. If you attempt to explain it to him at times he doesn't get it and other times he sees no problem with it. You are left just banging your head against the wall, as usual, when trying to discuss with a jw.
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breakfast of champions
The first time I heard the term cognitive dissonance was over two years ago, before my "awakening." A JW friend asked about it, because I was talking with him about cognitive science. I now wonder why he would bring up or even know about that term. I've thought at times he might be in the process of awakening himself.
Actually, we'll be talking about cognitive dissonance theory in social psych class this week or next. I'll fill you in with any good bits.
PS and just a real quick and easy example: Noah's ark. Anyone in their right mind knows this rings of a fable or myth, and yet you are asked to swallow it whole. We reduced cognitive dissonance between our "baloney meter" and what our parents taught us by rationalizing, Well, god must have miraculously made the whole thing work.
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maninthemiddle
I only learned about it afterwards. I don't think that born-in people experince the same way others would. I think that willful ignorance of the theroy of evolution is an example. If anyone one in any relgion wanted to properly defend their faith they should do proper research, but they don't. I think they are afraid of what they might learn.
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NewChapter
I did not know the word for it, but I understood the concept. I could point it out in others (that were not JW's), but not myself. When I came here I asked how it was possible that I had all this knowledge in my brain but just would not access it for so long, and they told me Cognitive Dissonance. It was such a relief to have a term to explain what I knew was happening in me and others.
WT encourages it. For instance, they will tell you if something doesn't make sense, or is hard to grasp, be patient. It will fit together eventually. One person in an Awake (I think) said it was like piecing together a puzzle. It's okay to set some pieces aside until it is clear where they fit. Well this turns out to be a lovely illustration of cognitive dissonance! LOL If it doesn't fit, give yourself time to rearrange your brain, and you'll get it in there!
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glenster
"Do You Think 'Any' Jehovah`s Witness Understands The Concept Of Cognitive
Dissonance? Are They Capable Of Comprehending The Meaning?"Yes. Most things the JWs leaders cook up in their bid to be exclusive (spokes-
people of a literal 144,000) is obscure to most people, which I assume is
deliberate, and followers are, unsurprisingly, told to avoid critical (apostate)
material.It's like asking if Popoff's followers could understand that a radio receiver
could be in someone's ear. I consider them victims of liars, not idiots regard-
ing information presented to them. There is a dismaying lack of curiosity to re-
search distinctive policies at the library or Internet.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Popoff#Exposed_as_a_fraud_by_James_RandiBotting, Heather; Gary Botting (1984). The Orwellian World of Jehovah's Wit-
nesses. University of Toronto Press. p. 90. ISBN 0-8020-6545-7. "Most Witnesses,
although capable of intelligent, reasonable thought, have as part of the payment
for paradise delegated authority to the organization for directing their lives...
and finally abrogate all responsibility and rights over their personal lives—in
effect, allowing the society to do their thinking for them."
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jehovah's_Witnesses#cite_note-303The JWs leaders now allow a distant time for the creation of the Earth although
they teach intelligent design as proof of God. Again, the information revealing
the JWs leaders' mischaracterization of research material is (by intelligent de-
sign--booya) obscure to most people.I don't think the JWs leaders set a date for a literal Adam and Eve. I suppose
they still teach a literal great flood, but even realizing what's wrong with that
involves some research a lot of JWs just don't do.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eschatology_of_Jehovah's_Witnesses#The_.22generation_of_1914.22_.281976.E2.80.93present.29
http://www.jw.org/en/publications/books/bible-stories/part-1-creation-to-the-flood/story-9-noah-builds-an-ark/