Craft Chat Favourite Cognitive Dissonances

[Aethalope]

Based on recent discussions on cognitive dissonance, I went looking at things I liked that could possibly be considered cognitively dissonant.

To begin with, may I present this video

It has
-> ice skaters
-> skating to a 60s folk rock song
-> performed by a heavy metal band

(It helps that everyone involved is extraordinarily talented, including the Youtuber who gave the video this arthouse look.)

Has anyone got any other examples they like?

 

[MattScho]

Back when I used to cover crime, I'd speak to a lot of inmates, so, to me, the most interesting incidence of it is that convicts don't merely say they aren't guilty, they believe it. they have adapted their memories to indicate that they are wrongly imprisoned. The psychologists I talked to about this insisted congintive dissonance in this case was a survival technique, that the human mind could not accept that it would have taken part in actions resulting in such a horrible setting, so the mind erases the truth and replaces it with a version of events that makes the convict appear and feel to be a victim of injustice.

 

[Pamela Jo]

Back when I used to cover crime, I'd speak to a lot of inmates, so, to me, the most interesting incidence of it is that convicts don't merely say they aren't guilty, they believe it. they have adapted their memories to indicate that they are wrongly imprisoned. The psychologists I talked to about this insisted congintive dissonance in this case was a survival technique, that the human mind could not accept that it would have taken part in actions resulting in such a horrible setting, so the mind erases the truth and replaces it with a version of events that makes the convict appear and feel to be a victim of injustice.

I would say that also applies to toddlers, remembering my sticky eldest covered in meringue insisting he had no idea what happened to the lemon pie I had baked for the landlord so he would give us our deposit back after crayon scribbles that mysteriously appeared on a wall.

 

[Pamela Jo]

HOLY Gods of all things unearthily beautiful. That is a HELL of an art house. Seeing 1000 times or more early morning practices in foggy dawns so that they can do that without screaming in pain. God bless im.



Americans love Mexican food.

 

[A.Morgan]

Hi Matt
Interesting observation in reference to inmates. Cognitive dissonance is social concern that affects members of many societies. There is a close correlation with cognitive dissonance and confirmation bias and social identity. Individuals aspire to be apart of a specific social or political group and will only acknowledge information that supports their narrative or beliefs. The behavioral trait of believing in one's lie is reinforced when it is constantly repeated. Then the transition occurs when a falsely created memory results in the individual actually believing the false narrative that he or she created.

 

[JoanUP]

I'm always amazed at the widespread belief of the "need for protein" when every single food-form already has protein and considering the fact protein is broken down in your stomach, so it never enters your bloodstream.
Eating protein to develop muscle is like people eating brain to be smarter, or eating eyeballs to see better.
Even if they acknowledge that proteins get broken down to amino acids, next they'll argue that humans don't have the gene to manufacture "essential" amino acids, and completely disregard that our gut is full of the bacteria that DO manufacture those.

 

[Hannah Faoileán]

Cognitive dissonance occurs in anorexia nervosa when they know they should eat the food but just can't. It also occurs when they look in the mirror and see their belief-version of themselves. I knew a rhythmic gymnast turned dancer with anorexia. The struggles she had - the fight of logic versus emotional necessity - were traumatic for those who knew her and even more so for herself.
P.S. She learnt to manage her anorexia. She became "fine", but an anorexic never completely loses discomfort around food. I don't know if, even now, the person she sees in the mirror is the actual mirror-image of herself.

 

[Aethalope]

Thank you for those fascinating examples of cognitive dissonance, really thought-provoking!

I was thinking about the comments by @AgentPete on the lab project from @Sedayne, so more from marketing than psychology. Specifically, something completely incongruous that makes us go 'huh' and thereby grabs our attention. It got me thinking about engaging things and whether they use this cog. diss.

Here's another one: Murderbot Diaries by Martha Stewart.
-> big, burly, security robot-person with laser weapons in his arms
-> who likes to binge trashy soap operas to cope with anxiety

 

[Sedayne]

Thank you for those fascinating examples of cognitive dissonance, really thought-provoking!

I was thinking about the comments by @AgentPete on the lab project from @Sedayne, so more from marketing than psychology. Specifically, something completely incongruous that makes us go 'huh' and thereby grabs our attention. It got me thinking about engaging things and whether they use this cog. diss.

Here's another one: Murderbot Diaries by Martha Stewart.
-> big, burly, security robot-person with laser weapons in his arms
-> who likes to binge trashy soap operas to cope with anxiety

Yes, in that other thread, we were talking about how contradictory elements can give a strong hook to a story or a pitch.

(In psychology, cognitive dissonance is where someone holds two contradictory beliefs at the same time or your behaviour doesn't reflect your stated values. And this is the definition I knew before.
It's the astrophysicist who believes in God. It's the unpublished writer who spends £30 to enter her novel for a competition she knows she'll never win but believing she might, even though she knows she won't. It's not as straightforward as lying to oneself or anybody else. It's holding those contrasting beliefs fully and simultaneously.
This is endlessly fascinating as the examples in this thread show, but it's not the intention of the thread, of course.)

In terms of marketing, and of interest to those of us trying to pitch to agents, publishers and readers, it's the contradictory elements that illicit a strong sense of intrigue.

And Pete's explanation from the other thread:

Further, since the paradox can’t actually be resolved, the usual human response is to ignore or deny, then move on. So from the marketer’s point of view, you have just a few seconds, or maybe hundred of milliseconds, to consolidate and develop that fleeting attention into sustained interest. Call it a “Golden Second” (copyright PCox All Rights Reserved )

My example of a pitch for a novel I've no intention of writing: It's Harry Potter meets Fifty Shades...

 

[RK Wallis]

My favourite... The Hunger Games

 

[Pamela Jo]

Yes, in that other thread, we were talking about how contradictory elements can give a strong hook to a story or a pitch.

(In psychology, cognitive dissonance is where someone holds two contradictory beliefs at the same time or your behaviour doesn't reflect your stated values. And this is the definition I knew before.
It's the astrophysicist who believes in God. It's the unpublished writer who spends £30 to enter her novel for a competition she knows she'll never win but believing she might, even though she knows she won't. It's not as straightforward as lying to oneself or anybody else. It's holding those contrasting beliefs fully and simultaneously.
This is endlessly fascinating as the examples in this thread show, but it's not the intention of the thread, of course.)

In terms of marketing, and of interest to those of us trying to pitch to agents, publishers and readers, it's the contradictory elements that illicit a strong sense of intrigue.

And Pete's explanation from the other thread:



My example of a pitch for a novel I've no intention of writing: It's Harry Potter meets Fifty Shades...

Fan fiction. It's a "hot" topic with many thinking it was Harry and Ron who should have ended up together.

It's the person who goes without necessaries to buy a lottery ticket. It's those anticipatory moments when in a sense you've won thata matters. And the participation in a group ritual. "one of us will win and by extension so have I. We believe, therefore we are."

 

[Pamela Jo]

I would say Elmore Leonard employs this well, tho the quirky characters do get a bit wearing after a while. The psychopath that adores puppys being an example in the recent film Accouuntant 2. And he's the hero.

It begins to feel paint by numbers and formulaic. AI.
Better to find a natural example that we all kind of recognise as being real. Like Mrs Marple who gets patronised by police because she's an old lady, but is actually one sharp cookie.

 

[AgentPete]

My example of a pitch for a novel I've no intention of writing: It's Harry Potter meets Fifty Shades...

I suspect the fertile world of fanfic has already preempted you on that… many thousands of times…! And by now, there may well be AI videos, too...

 

[AgentPete]

It begins to feel paint by numbers and formulaic. AI.

Yeah. Can do.

Thing about cog diss as a tool is that it actually has to work. Just throwing two utterly disparate concepts together into your story blender doesn’t guarantee any cog diss impact at all. There has to be some weird, spooky-at-a-distance sort of entanglement between them…

 

[Aethalope]

My favourite... The Hunger Games

That's a great example

A talent show...
...where winning means killing