I came up with a theory regarding this concept. Below is a description of what cognative dissonance is and how it can be used to change one's beliefs. Essentially when a person performs an action that contradicts their belief system it creates dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is a 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. The brain responds by attempting to adapt their belief system so that their actions and beliefs are in balance. Another way to say that is, the brain begins THINKING in order to come up with a solution to this moral dilemma. Long/short I believe that CEDU recognized that THINKING had to be destroyed in order to keep the students believing in their rediculous teachings. Otherwise their "tools" would easily have been trumped by any moderately intelligent person, hence the need for the lesson in the I and ME. Teach the students to attack their own thinking by yelling and screaming at the floor until that "uncomfortable feeling" goes away.
I'll also note this isn't a new concept. In the book "Cults in our midst" pg. 177 it discusses a psychotherapy cult with the odd name "Dr.
Tim". And I'll quote, "No criticism or complaints were tolerated by Tim, who said such complaining indicated "being in your head" rather than "in your feelings." Anything other than feeling was labeled "being in your stuff" and considered an indication of mental disorder." The connection between CEDU and Dr. Tim seems a little too close for comfort to me. We already know Mel Wasserman applied synanon style "therapy" and it looks as if he lifted more material from other cults as well.
Cognitive Dissonance
Description
This is the feeling of uncomfortable tension which comes from holding two
conflicting thoughts in the mind at the same time.
Dissonance increases with:
· The importance of the subject to us.
· How strongly the dissonant thoughts conflict.
· Our inability to rationalize and explain away the conflict.
Dissonance is often strong when we believe something about ourselves and
then do something against that belief. If I believe I am good but do
something bad, then the discomfort I feel as a result is cognitive
dissonance.
Cognitive dissonance is a very powerful motivator which will often lead us
to change one or other of the conflicting belief or action. The discomfort
often feels like a tension between the two opposing thoughts. To release the
tension we can take one of three actions:
· Change our behavior.
· Justify our behavior by changing the conflicting cognition.
· Justify our behavior by adding new cognitions.
Dissonance is most powerful when it is about our self-image. Feelings of
foolishness, immorality and so on (including internal projections during
decision-making) are dissonance in action.
If an action has been completed and cannot be undone, then the
after-the-fact dissonance compels us to change our beliefs. If beliefs are
moved, then the dissonance appears during decision-making, forcing us to
take actions we would not have taken before.
Cognitive dissonance appears in virtually all evaluations and decisions and
is the central mechanism by which we experience new differences in the
world. When we see other people behave differently to our images of them,
when we hold any conflicting thoughts, we experience dissonance.
Dissonance increases with the importance and impact of the decision, along
with the difficulty of reversing it. Discomfort about making the wrong
choice of car is bigger than when choosing a lamp.
Note: Self-Perception Theory gives an alternative view.
Research
Festinger first developed this theory in the 1950s to explain how members of
a cult who were persuaded by their leader, a certain Mrs Keech, that the
earth was going to be destroyed on 21st December and that they alone were
going to be rescued by aliens, actually increased their commitment to the
cult when this did not happen (Festinger himself had infiltrated the cult,
and would have been very surprised to meet little green men). The dissonance
of the thought of being so stupid was so great that instead they revised
their beliefs to meet with obvious facts: that the aliens had, through their
concern for the cult, saved the world instead.
In a more mundane experiment, Festinger and Carlsmith got students to lie
about a boring task. Those who were paid $1 felt uncomfortable lying.
Example
Smokers find all kinds of reasons to explain away their unhealthy habit. The
alternative is to feel a great deal of dissonance.
So what?
Using it
Cognitive dissonance is central to many forms of persuasion to change
beliefs, values, attitudes and behaviors. The tension can be injected
suddenly or allowed to build up over time. People can be moved in many small
jumps or one large one.
Defending
When you start feeling uncomfortable, stop and see if you can find the inner
conflict. Then notice how that came about. If it was somebody else who put
that conflict there, you can decide not to play any more with them.
http://changingminds.org/explanations/t ... onance.htm 