Do You Think"Any" Jehovah`s Witness Understands The Concept Of Cognitive Dissonance ? Are They Capable Of Comprehending The Meaning ?

by smiddy 17 Replies latest watchtower beliefs

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  clarity

  Good post Smiddy.

  >

  "but the point is that the mental condition of Cog. Diss., if in the mind in large measure as it is with every J.W, is extremely bad for you, it is a constant stress inducing pressure, which may account for the large number of J.W's suffering from deprssion compared with the normal people not in the Cult"

  Phizzy right on!

  Did not know of the concept ... but sure felt it for years.

  'Crazy making' messages continuously thru the years will eventually make you crazy!

  More often than not, in the last years I would cry all the way home from the meetings.

  whywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhywhy aaagggggg!

  Why? Those pieces were not fitting in! The puzzle would not make sense.

  What a beautiful freedom it is to be able to think clearly, to be free ..........

  to know why!

  clarity
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  blondie

  I learned that concept from my therapist and other support groups before I left. I'm sure they can understand it but not initially in regards to themselves individually. Perhaps in application to other groups/religions to explain why they are resistant to accepting their "truth." It's just experinece and timing as to when some wake up to what is happening to have a term to assign to what they are feeling.

  Having since gone to university and worked with many non-jws and socially, not many non-jws are aware or understand what cognitive dissonance means.
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  DATA-DOG

  The Elders in my meetings didn't. They were actually upset that I felt the concept applied within the congregation. I bet they are researching it now.
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  King Solomon

  Ahhh, it's just like 'newspeak' in Orwell's 1984: if a concept doesn't have a name, or if the name itself if forbidden, it's like the concept never existed or can be eliminated. That was what the protagonist of the novel was doing, helping the leaders to eliminate words from the lexicon so that the concept could be eliminated from existence.
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  smiddy

  Actually, we'll be talking about cognitive dissonance theory in social psych class this week or next. I'll fill you in with any good bits.

  I`ll look forward to that , b.o.c.

  Having since gone to university and worked with many non-jws and socially, not many non-jws are aware or understand what cognitive dissonance means.

  Thats very interesting, Blondie

  "but the point is that the mental condition of Cog. Diss., if in the mind in large measure as it is with every J.W, is extremely bad for you, it is a constant stress inducing pressure, which may account for the large numberof J.W's suffering from deprssion compared with the normal people not in the Cult"

  I think thats a good summation phizzy

  glenster ,thanks for those links ,I`ll have to get back to them later.

  Like many of you I had never heard of the term before coming here,and what prompted me to post this topic was an e-mail I had sent to my son on another topic, I used this terminology and he e-mailed me back saying it`s come up in a" course" he will be doing,so I wanted as much feedback to gain a better understanding of the term as possible.He is no longer a JW either.

  Thank you all for your replys

  smiddy
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  Found Sheep

  Education is a funny thing. I wish I could go back in time and talk to myself. I remember this in school but the JW's warped my mind so much that I didn't see it was about my JWness. I remember reading examples of this and feeling too familiar with it. I blamed my childhood. I think Jw's do this a lot. That "feeling" comes up but it's "satan" your "abuse" the "last days are getting to you" anything but the "truth"!!!
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  irondork

  tag
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  smiddy

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