Cognitive Dissonance : The Mind’s Manoeuvre from Uncomfortable Truths

We’ve all experienced it! The mental conflict that comes when new information threatens your beliefs, assumptions or actions.

Professor Daniel Meegan of Guelph University, Ontario, Canada, explains the defensive mind manoeuvres that we’re likely to make when such mental conflicts occur. In our present age of troubling uncertainties and existential crises, cognitive dissonance is also common among politicians.

Is  it necessary for our sanity, or a potentially dangerous cop-out? Professor Meegan takes an unblinkered look at how we phase out unwelcome information.