Cognitive Dissonance, Testing and the Need to Face Our History: Guest Post by Aixa Rodriguez
"In psychology, cognitive dissonance is the mental stress or discomfort experienced by an individual who holds two or more contradictory beliefs, ideas, or values at the same time, or is confronted by new information that conflicts with existing beliefs, ideas, or values.[1][2]" Wikipedia
In watching the coverage of the 20th anniversary of the genocide in Bosnia, the efforts to identify victims with DNA was mentioned. 20 years later and these victims are still unidentified and not resting in peace. The reality that some people still have difficulty calling it what it was , genocide, is a problem. Other words are used to coverup the reality of the monstrous deeds.To this day according to what Christianne Amapour said, there has yet to be serious actions taken to "denazify" the government, or to have a "truth and reconciliation".
Think on this. the language she used alludes to the Holocaust and Apartheid era South Africa. Are these events in history taught well in our nations schools? How quickly would the association have been made by today's High school graduates? I wager not quickly, and at a low percentage.
Thinking on cognitive dissonance, I believe this is the problem with facing ugly things. It is the reason people seek to explain away ugly things. It is the reason word of what is happenning in DR is increasingly being explained away. It is the reason why ugly vicious vigilante justice that is obviously wrong is being explained away as propaganda and bad journalism. The violence itself, video footage of brutality never addressed. It is hard to face realities that dont match your beliefs about yourself , your people, your culture. But it must be confronted. The greatest heroes have woken up and fought to make the ideals of their country real.
After tragedies, the reality of evil committed must be exposed. In this way we honor the dead, we hold perpetrators accountable, we learn the who what where why and how if incidents. If we do not do this, if our discomfort leads to denial, or stalling in taking action, perpetrators get away with heinous actions, repeat them in other locations, infect the next generation with hate and With A Brooklyn Accent: Cognitive Dissonance, Testing and the Need to Face Our History: Guest Post by Aixa Rodriguez:
