Cognitive Dissonance February 27, 2025February 26, 2025 Mark Aaron James: This is what sucks about cognitive dissonance. Once you’ve committed, and defended a position, it is VERY difficult to rectify such a mistake with one’s sense of self. Humans are incredibly reluctant to see themselves as less informed, making bad decisions, unknowingly supporting evil, and being fooled. They will, honestly, die defending a choice, rather than admit they were flawed. It is one of our greatest weaknesses as a species. There is a gentle process, where you can lead people to figure it out themselves, but just telling them, even showing them evidence, often causes them to double down. I wish this weren’t true, but there are tons of studies about it. Ignorant people are fragile, and that sucks for anyone hoping to make change. → That’s the problem all right. Yet . . . . . . when the 79 million Americans on Medicaid see how hard Trump is trying to cut their benefits . . . while cutting taxes for millionaires and billionaires . . . and ballooning the deficit . . . . . . when farmers lose the sales they used to make to USAID to feed starving children (and win the world’s admiration and goodwill) . . . . . . when shoppers see the price of eggs double what got them to vote for Trump . . . . . . and hard-working public servants who voted for him are treated with contempt and laid off . . . . . . and government services get worse and air safety becomes a concern and measles spreads and 401k’s fall . . . . . . and they wonder how it makes America great to pardon cop beaters . . . . . . and to vote with Russia and North Korea against Ukraine and our allies . . . . . . I think more than a few of the good people who trusted Trump with their vote will feel betrayed. Whether this will happen in time to save the country — and whether free and fair elections will be allowed in 2026 — I don’t know. They have elections in Russia and North Korea, too. Join Indivisible! Take 20 minutes a day to spread DIS-disinformation! BONUS Will it be okay for Trump to murder people as Russia’s Putin and North Korea’s Kim do? Adam Schiff puts the question to a Trump nominee.