Keith Miller, a professor at Brown University and an expert in – and passionate advocate of – evolution states: “The categorical mistake of the atheist is to assume that God is natural and therefore within the realm of science to investigate and test. But God is not and cannot be part of nature. He is the answer to existence, not part of existence itself.”
Wow! Is this an objective scientist talking? How about Francis Collins, a geneticist during the weekdays and a passionate church goer on Sunday? Collins says he sees the trinity in a waterfall. He sees the sacred but has to think scientifically to make a living. This cognitive dissonance is amazing. How could he be so conflicted? But as Christopher Hitchens says on the DVD "The Four Horsemen," cognitive dissonance is a very common human trait, that we all have our public and our very private selves. He cites an a example of a follower of http://www.moveon.org/ thinking the U.S. is an imperialist nation who is hated by the rest of the world, a nation which is seen as a an unfriendly police man in the world, starting fights instead of solving problems. Yet this person pays his taxes and goes to church and is a good citizen with a nice family. He still benefits from all the amenities of society, but criticizes it vociferously in his role of a moveon.org antagonist. He is sort of living a double life criticizing the U.S. but enjoying the immense freedoms the country gives him and his family.
Wow! Is this an objective scientist talking? How about Francis Collins, a geneticist during the weekdays and a passionate church goer on Sunday? Collins says he sees the trinity in a waterfall. He sees the sacred but has to think scientifically to make a living. This cognitive dissonance is amazing. How could he be so conflicted? But as Christopher Hitchens says on the DVD "The Four Horsemen," cognitive dissonance is a very common human trait, that we all have our public and our very private selves. He cites an a example of a follower of http://www.moveon.org/ thinking the U.S. is an imperialist nation who is hated by the rest of the world, a nation which is seen as a an unfriendly police man in the world, starting fights instead of solving problems. Yet this person pays his taxes and goes to church and is a good citizen with a nice family. He still benefits from all the amenities of society, but criticizes it vociferously in his role of a moveon.org antagonist. He is sort of living a double life criticizing the U.S. but enjoying the immense freedoms the country gives him and his family.
From Wikipedia: Cognitive dissonance is psychological state that describes the uncomfortable feeling when a person begins to understand that something the person believes to be true is, in fact, not true. Similar to ambivalence, the term cognitive dissonance describes conflicting thoughts or beliefs (cognitions) that occur at the same time, or when engaged in behaviors that conflict with one's beliefs. In academic literature, the term refers to attempts to reduce the discomfort of conflicting thoughts, by performing actions that are opposite to one's beliefs.
In simple terms, it can be the filtering of information that conflicts with what one already believes, in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce one's beliefs. In detailed terms, it is the perception of incompatibility between two cognitions, where "cognition" is defined as any element of knowledge, including attitude, emotion, belief, or behavior. The theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions. Experiments have attempted to quantify this hypothetical drive. Some of these have examined how beliefs often change to match behavior when beliefs and behavior are in conflict.
In simple terms, it can be the filtering of information that conflicts with what one already believes, in an effort to ignore that information and reinforce one's beliefs. In detailed terms, it is the perception of incompatibility between two cognitions, where "cognition" is defined as any element of knowledge, including attitude, emotion, belief, or behavior. The theory of cognitive dissonance states that contradicting cognitions serve as a driving force that compels the mind to acquire or invent new thoughts or beliefs, or to modify existing beliefs, so as to reduce the amount of dissonance (conflict) between cognitions. Experiments have attempted to quantify this hypothetical drive. Some of these have examined how beliefs often change to match behavior when beliefs and behavior are in conflict.
Hitchens goes one step further by saying many clergymen do not believe in God but perpetuate the myth with their flock. How many people really believe? What does it mean to really believe? Good questions! Doesn anyone really know the answers? Let's not be afraid to talk about the questions.
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