Cut to the Chase

I recently read a book that discussed Cognitive Dissonance Theory (c.d.t.) regarding scientists insisting that their previously held beliefs remained fact despite new data that clearly indicated the contrary.  I was familiar with the term from various psych courses but this time the relevance of the theory hit home.  Last week I mentioned the term, which was first posited in the 1950s by psychologist Leon Festinger, who postulated that when people hold two or more ideas to be true that contradict each other they become agitated.  Why?  Because like every other function in the human body the brain, or more particularly in this example, the psyche requires homeostasis.  Because these conflicting ideas create dissonance, we primates, engage in three specific behaviors to mollify this irritation to achieve consonance.  If, for example, I am craving 88% dark chocolate, but I know for various reasons that I should not eat it, I can do one of four things:

1) Leave the delicious, bitter, smooth, perfectly sweet, aromatic and butter like morsel in the cold, dark and lonely cabinet where a mouse might eat it.

2) Decide it is o.k. to have one piece because I have been a good boy and I am only having a small treat, so I can reach into the cupboard, pick up the wafer thin bar, gently unfold the paper wrapper, feel enlivened as I turn down the folds of the foil membrane, breath-in the roasted musk of cocoa, gently separate a single tile from the whole with a firm and caring click and rest my lips on the dusky fraction momentarily before I  plunge it into my mouth, or...

3) Justify the above by bargaining with myself by committing to row an extra 1000 meters or some other nonsense to make-up for my action.

4) Deny that A) I am eating chocolate, or B) this is a carb, it contains sugar, and it is harmful to me in any way shape or form.

 What strikes me about the above scenarios is that we engage in these behaviors all the time in-order to make it through the day.  We are surrounded by dissonance and how we manage it determines the quality of our lives.  Trivializing and denying are tried and true methods of coping with conflict.  It doesn't matter if we are eating chocolate or committing a regiment of troops to certain annihilation in a losing battle, it is the same mental process.  So how can you use this information to help you make the healthiest choices when it comes to diet and exercise?  Being aware of your feelings and not brushing them aside when they produce discomfort is healthier than minimizing or negating unexplored convictions that cause your strife.  At times it is necessary to turn the cognitive volume down or off, but you should be aware of why you are doing it.

I read an interesting piece recently on the internet about a woman who was sexually harassed in a pharmacy in Manhattan.  This poor woman was sick with strep throat and was waiting in line to pay for her antibiotics when some asshole chose to invade her personal space and proceeded to tell her how pleasant it must be between her legs.  With a high temperature and ready to pass out she had three options: deny what was happening, minimize it by asking him to leave her alone or addressing the assault head on.  She chose to confront him. She spoke out-loud so everyone in line could hear her that he was sexually harassing her at which point he shrank and disappeared from the store. This was a courageous act under any circumstances but particularly in a weakened state.  The jerk could have retaliated (she called her roommate and asked him to walk from their shared apartment a few blocks away to escort her home.)

We all make tough decisions everyday, but if you block things out you set yourself up for constant agitation because you are not solving the dissonance.  If this woman had put up with the harasser's bullshit the experience would have gnawed away at her long after the event.  There is truth in acknowledging conflict by shining a light on the issue.  Even if you can't solve the dissonance immediately you can articulate it which is the first step to consonance.   It is difficult to develop a state of mind that allows for continuous reflection in a world of overwhelming dysfunction.

Like physical exercise awareness requires daily practice which I engage in via meditation.  Mindfulness meditation affords me the ability to observe my racing thoughts and emotions instead of being caught in their whirlwind.  Unfortunately this skill of awareness eludes me more often than I would like but just as in diet and exercise I strongly believe that this pursuit is beneficial and necessary to stay healthy, to be happy, the possibility of happy, to no take medication, to take less medication, to be pain-free, to be relatively pain-free, to feel less desperate and to be more compassionate.

"If we choose always to be wise we should rarely need to be virtuous."
Jean-Jaques Rousseau