LIVE Gold Prices $  | E-Mail Subscriptions | Update GoldSeek | GoldSeek Radio 

Commentary : Gold Review : Markets : News Wire : Quotes : Silver : Stocks - Main Page 

 GoldSeek.com >> News >> Story  Disclaimer 
 
Latest Headlines

GoldSeek.com to Launch New Website
By: GoldSeek.com

Is Gold Price Action Warning Of Imminent Monetary Collapse Part 2?
By: Hubert Moolman

Gold and Silver Are Just Getting Started
By: Frank Holmes, US Funds

Silver Makes High Wave Candle at Target – Here’s What to Expect…
By: Clive Maund

Gold Blows Through Upside Resistance - The Chase Is On
By: Avi Gilburt

U.S. Mint To Reduce Gold & Silver Eagle Production Over The Next 12-18 Months
By: Steve St. Angelo, SRSrocco Report

Gold's sharp rise throws Financial Times into an erroneous sulk
By: Chris Powell, GATA

Precious Metals Update Video: Gold's unusual strength
By: Ira Epstein

Asian Metals Market Update: July-29-2020
By: Chintan Karnani, Insignia Consultants

Gold's rise is a 'mystery' because journalism always fails to pursue it
By: Chris Powell, GATA

 
Search

GoldSeek Web

 
Allergic to Cognitive Dissonance



-- Posted Sunday, 16 January 2011 | | Source: GoldSeek.com

Before the financial crisis of 2008, mentioning gold and silver among polite company was social suicide, nothing has changed today except the mode of death.  Before 2008, the reaction was to ignore and ridicule the crazy person.  Today, the reaction is to panic, and then try and forget about the bad news.

I liked the reaction before 2008 better.  These days I don't talk about gold and silver.  What can you do for those who run away from the plain truth?

The problem is that a quest for the truth is inherently painful.  In order to move away from a world view that is clearly bankrupt, you have to juggle conflicting and disturbing ideas in your head.  The word for this process is cognitive dissonance.  Most people have a very low tolerance for this kind of pain.

In fact I would say that the human allergy to cognitive dissonance is the root of all evil, but also perhaps the only reason that we can come together and function in large social groups.

Those who do great damage to society are invariably people who have a low willingness to accept cognitive dissonance.  Think about the investment banker who is selling toxic investments to a pension fund and then shorting those investments based on his inside information.  He is doing "God's Work".  There is plenty of evidence that he is destroying lives, but he is committed to keeping those thoughts out of his head, committed not to seek the truth, committed to a narrow view.

Likewise, the pensioner, victim of the investment banker, refuses to deviate from the narrow view that the government will protect his pension, despite all evidence to the contrary.  So the victim remains quiet all the time when something could be done to fix the problem.  Only when it is too late, and the money is abruptly cut off or the currency abruptly devalued, do we get a response from the victim.  The victim switches from the narrow view that everything is fine, to the narrow view that someone is to blame, but since the victim can't handle a lot of cognitive dissonance, he will latch on to the target for his blame that makes things easy to understand and reconcile.

So the blame is misdirected, the source of the evil not punished, etc.

This is the cycle of history.  And I believe that this is the cycle of our lives on the small scale as well.


voltaire@incitertrading.com
http://www.incitertrading.com


-- Posted Sunday, 16 January 2011 | Digg This Article | Source: GoldSeek.com




 



Increase Text SizeDecrease Text SizeE-mail Link of Current PagePrinter Friendly PageReturn to GoldSeek.com

 news.goldseek.com >> Story

E-mail Page  | Print  | Disclaimer 


© 1995 - 2019



GoldSeek.com Supports Kiva.org

© GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC

The content on this site is protected by U.S. and international copyright laws and is the property of GoldSeek.com and/or the providers of the content under license. By "content" we mean any information, mode of expression, or other materials and services found on GoldSeek.com. This includes editorials, news, our writings, graphics, and any and all other features found on the site. Please contact us for any further information.

Live GoldSeek Visitor Map | Disclaimer


Map

The views contained here may not represent the views of GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC, its affiliates or advertisers. GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC makes no representation, warranty or guarantee as to the accuracy or completeness of the information (including news, editorials, prices, statistics, analyses and the like) provided through its service. Any copying, reproduction and/or redistribution of any of the documents, data, content or materials contained on or within this website, without the express written consent of GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC, is strictly prohibited. In no event shall GoldSeek.com, Gold Seek LLC or its affiliates be liable to any person for any decision made or action taken in reliance upon the information provided herein.