Something I’ve been able to do somehow that I’m very proud of is to train myself to hold space for, and to appreciate cognitive dissonance — I’ve found that trying to quickly clear away the discomfort of it leads to doubling down on beliefs or opinions, which isn’t productive. I used to do that a lot, because I had internalised an image of myself as someone whose views and beliefs are consistent and coherent (not like all those other stupid people). I cringe to think of past me, but I suppose that’s good in a way, because progress.
Most of my progress has come from remodelling of my world view, which is a messy and lengthy process. Sometimes I have to sit with the discomfort of cognitive dissonance for a while before I can understand it and resolve it.
Something I’ve been able to do somehow that I’m very proud of is to train myself to hold space for, and to appreciate cognitive dissonance — I’ve found that trying to quickly clear away the discomfort of it leads to doubling down on beliefs or opinions, which isn’t productive. I used to do that a lot, because I had internalised an image of myself as someone whose views and beliefs are consistent and coherent (not like all those other stupid people). I cringe to think of past me, but I suppose that’s good in a way, because progress.
Most of my progress has come from remodelling of my world view, which is a messy and lengthy process. Sometimes I have to sit with the discomfort of cognitive dissonance for a while before I can understand it and resolve it.