?url_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Adc&rft.title=Speculations+on+a+privileged+state+of+cognitive+dissonance&rft.creator=Montell%2C+Conrad&rft.subject=Philosophy+of+Mind&rft.subject=Evolutionary+Psychology&rft.subject=Social+Psychology&rft.description=This+paper+examines+two+commonly+held+and+conflicting+cognitions+in+the+modern+world%2C+each+based+on+a+belief+vital+to+the+individual's+sense+of+self%2C+both+maintained+in+what+is+here+considered+as+a+chronic+state+of+dissonance.+This+psychological+inconsistency+consists+of+an+inherent+practical+belief+in+the+goodness+of+empirical+knowledge+and+a+culturally-developed+transcendent+belief+denying%2C+or+at+least+mitigating%2C+empirical+evidence+about+the+finite+nature+of+individual+life+and+affirming+a+counter-empirical+belief+in+supernatural%3A+supra-cause-and-effect+forces+that+influence+life.+I+argue+that+since+both+beliefs+are+highly+resistant+to+change%2C+they+lead+to+an+impasse+that+individuals+in+diverse+cultures+have+borne+and+been+motivated+to+maintain.+They+have+borne+it%2C+as+I+hope+to+show%2C+because+the+consonant+%E2%80%9Ccure%E2%80%9D+has+proved+to+be+more+discomforting+than+the+dissonant+condition.+%0D%0A%0D%0A&rft.publisher=Blackwell&rft.contributor=Smith%2C+Charles&rft.date=2001-06&rft.type=Journal+(Paginated)&rft.type=PeerReviewed&rft.format=application%2Fpdf&rft.identifier=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2388%2F1%2Ftemp.pdf&rft.identifier=++Montell%2C+Conrad++(2001)+Speculations+on+a+privileged+state+of+cognitive+dissonance.++%5BJournal+(Paginated)%5D+++++&rft.relation=http%3A%2F%2Fcogprints.org%2F2388%2F