cstraus's blog

This just in: it's all over the news as we all know-- Paypal and even a Swiss bank is out to stop Julian Assange from releasing and/or dissemination of documents someone gave him that embarrass the US. THIS IS COGNITIVE DISSONANCE FOLKS! "We are the good guys" (held belief) meets "we are/look like jerks" (facts which do not match preferred belief). DANGER DANGER!

So what does the State Department do?

Confabulate! This is from their letter to him:

"Publication of documents of this nature at a minimum would:

* Place at risk the lives of countless innocent individuals — from journalists to human rights activists and bloggers to soldiers to individuals providing information to further peace and security;"

Notice they do not say what law he is violating-- or how loes are at risk. (Since them several sources have said no evidence of any such risk has been found.)

I hear Carol Tavris speak at a wonderful discussion group in Santa Monica years ago: Somehow I just felt a need to finally buy the book "Mistakes Were Made(But not by Me) and read it. Now I am getting messages from the Universe -- the phrase "cognitive dissonance" keeps reoccurring everywhere I read, on conference calls... I am clearly supposed to get familiar with this concept (and the research) and how it affects me, my work and my clients.. and the toxic court system.

I have yet to complete the book--the examples of how commonly God awful things happen and are justified buy this aspect of how humans think is hard to plow through. I keep wanting to know WHAT DO WE DO ABOUT IT? And I keep asking myself "Have I done this? Do I do this?"

Hard to read and do this at the same time.