Cognitive Dissonance

I was watching a documentary last night on Youtube about Louis Theroux meeting the Phelps family. In the case that you haven't yet heard their name all over the media, they're a sixty person cult/family who hate gay boys. And since they consider everyone who isn't part of their inbred mind-controlling camp a homosexual, they pretty much hate everyone.

Here's a link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Westboro_Baptist_Church

What struck me is how easily things like this happen - I mean, the bubble of their altered reality is perpetuated by pushing away the truth - everything that they live by is based on the concept of an unwavering, unconditional, unquestioning faith. The more they denounce the truth, the more their "faith" is confirmed.

It got me thinking about how often and easily we are susceptible to a similar kind of mentality. The more we invest into something, the more likely we are to invest even more.

I wonder how many of our unfulfilling careers, destructive friendships, bad health habits, and relationships are the result of just that ...

Have you heard of the sea squirt? It spends it's life on the bottom of the ocean looking for a rock. When it finds a suitable boulder, it lands on it and permanently attaches itself. It eats its brain because it no longer needs it.

Oh man.

It's scary because it's relatable.