~ TETD-S-J-TETPTNTJOAAD-ETWO-ITUF-‘CD’-ASOT-TOWAPHT-C(I/A/B/O)-TA-PI-WEO ~ The Engine That Drives – Self-Justification – The Energy That Produces The Need To Justify Our Actions And Decisions – Especially The Wrong Ones – Is The Unpleasant Feeling – “Cognitive Dissonance” – A State Of Tension – That Occurs When A Person Holds Two – Cognitions (Ideas / Attitudes / Beliefs / Opinions) – That Are – Psychologically Inconsistent – With Each Other

~ DID-B-THTITCEO-ITFW-A-A-WACWSOLTTCOTOEINA ~ Dissonance Is Disquieting – Because – To Hold Two Ideas That Contradict Each Other – Is To Flirt With – Absurdity – And – We Are Creatures Who Spend Our Lives Trying To Convince Ourselves That Our Existence Is Not Absurd

~ IAPVGTADOPE-IOTAS-GOO-T-GOO-B-MA ~ If A Person Voluntarily Goes Through A Difficult Or Painful Experience – In Order To Attain Some – Goal Or Object – That – Goal Or Object – Becomes – More Attractive

~ OWAIIABAHJIW-COMILHW-IMET-S-NE-IAEFADTMJTKIT-TIITCTF ~ Once We Are Invested In A Belief And Have Justified Its Wisdom – Changing Our Minds Is Literally Hard Work – It’s Much Easier To – Slot – New Evidence – Into An Existing Framework And Do The Mental Justification To Keep It There – Than It Is To – Change The Framework

~ OWMAD-WHAKOTAODTBI ~ Once We Make A Decision – We Have All Kinds Of Tools At Our Disposal To Bolster It

~ CLTJTAAE-TSMUTBO-GWBWC-EWMW-LWAEO-POWCBAS-TWIAO-SWCAAC-IATC-A-VC-IS:ABS-J-WBMA ~ Children Learn To Justify Their Aggressive Actions Early – The Same Mechanism Underlies The Behavior Of – Gangs Who Bully Weaker Children – Employers Who Mistreat Workers – Lovers Who Abuse Each Other – Police Officers Who Continue Beating A Suspect – Tyrants Who Imprison And Oppress – Soldiers Who Commit Atrocities Against Civilians – In All These Cases – A – Vicious Circle – Is Created: Aggression Begets Self-Justification – Which Begets More Aggression

~ F-APGACCASOBAC-A-‘VC’-WPDAGD-PWTDIOAWOBC-TWCTSTBOTGIAWL-TDAF-IDWANFTMHH ~ Fortunately – A Person’s Generous Actions Can Create A Spiral Of Benevolence And Compassion – A – “Virtuous Circle” – When People Do A Good Deed – Particularly When They Do It On A Whim Or By Chance – They Will Come To See The Beneficiary Of Their Generosity In A Warmer Light – To Do A Favor – Is Dissonant With Any Negative Feelings They Might Have Had

~ HOSHST-CT-PBOAD-PBOAEYOT-APEARBTC ~ Hundred Of Studies Have Shown That – Compared To – Predictions Based On Actuarial Data – Predictions Based On An Expert’s Years Of Training And Personal Experience – Are Rarely Better Than Chance

~ E-RTD-CBTFF-B-CUWEOWTWHBR-‘IO’-IOTICHNI-IOB-B-B ~ Experts – Reduced The Dissonance – Caused By Their Failed Forecasts – By – Coming Up With Explanations Of Why They Would Have Been Right – “If Only” – If Only That Improbable Calamity Had Not Intervened – If Only Blah-Blah-Blah

~ PWHBST-BT-A-AGITI-B-RATEH-CTD-ED-TWDNSITSE-ITPW-A-DTLIGH-WTTFS ~ People Who Have Been Sorely Tempted – Battled Temptation – And – Almost Given In To It – But – Resisted At The Eleventh Hour – Come To Dislike – Even Despise – Those Who Did Not Succeed In The Same Effort – It’s The People Who – Almost – Decide To Live In Glass Houses – Who Throw The First Stones

~ MEV-I-APFO-S-J ~ Minimizing Ethical Violations – Is – A Popular Form Of – Self-Justification

~ OPCEUDIAHT-TACROBASS-J ~ Ordinary People Can End Up Doing Immoral And Harmful Things – Through A Chain Reaction Of Behavior And Subsequent Self-Justification

~ WAPSOTU-TRTTLSTTAP-LACTTMBO-PITBS ~ When Affluent People Speak Of The Underprivileged – They Rarely Thank Their Lucky Stars That They Are Privileged – Let Alone Consider That They Might Be Overprivileged – Privilege Is Their Blind Spot

~ WCAO-PBS-B-IWAUOT-WMBUR-CELAMFD-IAWNHOV-BIWSCOSJB-BS-EOPAAOP ~ We Cannot Avoid Our – Psychological Blind Spots – But – If We Are Unaware Of Them – We May Become Unwittingly Reckless – Crossing Ethical Lines And Making Foolish Decisions – Introspection Alone Will Not Help Our Visions – Because It Will Simply Confirm Our Self-Justifying Beliefs – Blind Spots – Enhance Our Pride And Activate Our Prejudices

~ OYTTG-NMHS-YWFTUTGSB-EIIO-AF-YA ~ Once You Take The Gift – No Matter How Small – You Will Feel The Urge To Give Something Back – Even If It’s Only – At First – Your Attention

~ JAWCIHIEBO-SWCSPIEBO-TTO-E-P-BS ~ Just As We Can Identify Hypocrisy In Everyone But Ourselves – So We Can See Prejudices In Everyone But Ourselves – Thanks To Our – Ego-Preserving – Blind Spots

~ P-EFTDOTHM-TPAPIIC-S-THUQPNI-TDITS-FODWTCWALA-A-EDBC ~ Prejudices – Emerge From The Disposition Of The Human Mind – To Perceive And Process Information In Categories – Stereotypes – They Help Us Quickly Process New Information – The Downside Is That Stereotypes – Flatten Out Differences Within The Category We Are Looking At – And – Exaggerate Differences Between Categories

~ ASAPHCACC-U-H-TIPEWIIIA-N-U ~ As Soon As People Have Created A Category Called – Us – However – They Invariably Perceive Everybody Who Isn’t In It As – Not-Us

~ BPOT-TA-U/U/I/IM-C/I/S/S/ES/-WAFGOUAHWTT ~ By Persuading Ourselves That – They Are – Unworthy / Unteachable / Incompetent / Inherently Math-Challenged / Immoral / Sinful / Stupid / Even Subhuman – We Avoid Feeling Guilty Or Unethical About How We Treat Them

~ WASIROE-IBSFTICAAA-IS ~ When A Story Is Repeated Often Enough – It Becomes So Familiar That It Chips Away At A Person’s Initial Skepticism

~ FM-APTFTAJTM-B-SAAHP:AITTRFTL ~ False Memories – Allow People To Forgive Themselves And Justify Their Mistakes – But – Sometimes At A High Price: An Inability To Take Responsibility For Their Lives

~ TGATBOOODO-SIT-CG:TGT-I-G-TNTM-TND ~ To Guard Against The Bias Of Our Own Direct Observations – Scientist Invented The – Control Group: The Group That – Isn’t – Getting – The New Therapeutic Method – The New Drug

~ W-BPAAAC-I-AWAICOBAAP-TGMO-AC-N-70%-DNRTPC ~ While – Being Physically Abused As A Child – Is – Associated With An Increased Chance Of Becoming An Abusive Parent – The Great Majority Of – Abused Children – Nearly – 70 Percent – Do Not Repeat Their Parents’ Cruelties

~ C-CLW-S/NC/M-IOOT-SS-T-ARIIFF ~ Contempt – Criticism Laced With – Sarcasm / Name Calling / Mockery – Is One Of The – Strongest Signs – That – A Relationship Is In Free Fall

~ OPCTTAOA-‘WST?’-TBLATAITIDWTP ~ Once People Commit Themselves To An Opinion About – “Who Started This?” – They Became Less Able To Accept Information That Is Dissonant With Their Positions

~ BINCTB-SOR-IC-A-UI-CB-O-P-TIOOTMTDFISP ~ Brutality Is Not Confined To Brutes – Sadists Or Psychopaths – It Can – And – Usually Is – Committed By – Ordinary – People – This Is One Of The Most Thoroughly Documented Findings In Social Psychology

~ TIO-SMNA-PF-TB-DOJ-BA-IAOL-THU-IOW-MBD-G-A-GU ~ The Importance Of – Seeing Mistakes Not As – Personal Failings – To Be – Denied Or Justified – But As – Inevitable Aspect Of Life – That Help Us – Improve Our Work – Make Better Decisions – Grow – And – Grow Up