Cognitive dissonance

by Bugbear 3 Replies latest social current

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  Bugbear

  Just happened to get my hands of a scientific report that might interest some of us with relatives who suffer for cognitive dissonance. Article is published In Natural Scientific report Nr. 2016 No. 39589. Writers are Jona T Kaplan Sara Gimbal and Sam Harris, and the abstract says

  When the Brain Won't Change Its Mind

  Neural correlates of maintaining one’s political beliefs in the face of counterevidence

  Abstract
  People often discount evidence that contradicts their firmly held beliefs. However, little is known about the neural mechanisms that govern this behavior. We used neuroimaging to investigate the neural systems involved in maintaining belief in the face of counterevidence, presenting 40 liberals with arguments that contradicted their strongly held political and non-political views. Challenges to political beliefs produced increased activity in the default mode network—a set of interconnected structures associated with self-representation and disengagement from the external world. Trials with greater belief resistance showed increased response in the dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and decreased activity in the orbitofrontal cortex. We also found that participants who changed their minds more showed less BOLD signal in the insula and the amygdala when evaluating counterevidence. These results highlight the role of emotion in belief-change resistance and offer insight into the neural systems involved in belief maintenance, motivated reasoning, and related phenomena.

  Good luch with reading it....

  
  
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  freddo

  @Bugbear

  Thank you. In layman's terms then, we get "hard wired ..."

  In all your studies and your personal experience have you found a silver bullet or at least something we can try upon our loved ones that are in the jw mindset?

  I notice from your profile that you helped get all your (adult?) kids out and that you have made progress with your wife.

  Any guidance for us please?
  
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  Bugbear

  Still my wife is still in. It doesn,t look like she ever will realize that she is trapped in in a mindset. But sometimes I realize that her children and grandchildren means more to her then a total disaster of lies from the GB. Slowly slowly we are trying to get her out of this mindset…and eventually before she dies…. She will understand TTATT… Thanks for responding
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  Bugbear

  Freddo!

  I think my ”silverbullet” is named education. As a former elder with a fulltime job and 6 children covered up with endless meetings, preparations, family studies… I got 4 hart strokes, depression, and other psycho social diseases. That released the time I needed to take up University studies. I never liked the Idea from the Soc. that no education was necessary, “cause the time is so near now” And I always encouraged all my children to get the highest education they could get…. Together with my children, we used the system in Sweden with free education…. And of course carefully investigate all things scrupulously to make all things sure, we found that all the “sure” things we learned from Watchtower was not sure. In fact they were lies they were frauds, this in order to collect more and more money (free labor) from their slaves. Unfortunately my wife has not yet awakened, still living in her cognitive dissonance. She knows a lot about the age of humans, the absence of the flood, the Bibels unsureness. The horrifying stories that actually is in the Bible….But still prefer to “have her friends” in th KH