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> Let's not conflate human worth with value to society. I hope we can all agree that all human lives are of equal worth. Reminds me of this passage from Sapein
by kolbe 8y ago
> Let's not conflate human worth with value to society. I hope we can all agree that all human lives are of equal worth.
Reminds me of this passage from Sapeins:
"a human being who belongs to any particular culture must hold contradictory beliefs and be riven by incompatible values. It’s such an essential feature of any culture that it even has a name: cognitive dissonance. Cognitive dissonance is often considered a failure of the human psyche. In fact, it is a vital asset. Had people been unable to hold contradictory beliefs and values, it would probably have been impossible to establish and maintain any human culture."
- anbende 8y agoThe passage describes the benefit of having the ability to hold conflicting beliefs. Interestingly this is not what cognitive dissonance is. Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling we have when our beliefs conflict. Research in this area shows that people are quite intolerant to this feeling and will tend to alter their beliefs to alleviate it. Cognitive dissonance actually prevents us from holding conflicting beliefs. This is the opposite of what the cited passage describes. Perhaps it is a translation issue as the source material was originally in Hebrew.
- facetube 8y agoI read OP as "the ability to endure and be comfortable with cognitive dissonance".