Free Republic

As wildfires roar in east Tennessee, forcing thousands of people to evacuate, people still upset over the election of Donald Trump are mocking the plight of Tennesseans. Some even posted that east-Tennessee residents deserve to have their homes, businesses, and forests burned down for voting for Donald Trump. The Tennessee areas engulfed in the wildfires are the towns of of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge which are popular holiday resorts for families from the region. They are known for the family-friendly, country-music themed, and pro-Christian attractions and activities including Dollywood, the theme park of famed country music singer Dolly Parton. Some...

A few days ago I tweeted a message that induced cognitive dissonance in a lot of Twitter users and some of the bottom-feeding media (Salon, HuffPo). This is a good case study for understanding the phenomenon. Here’s the tweet: (see at link) Cognitive dissonance happens when you are confronted with a truth that conflicts with your self-image. To reconcile the conflict, your brain automatically triggers an hallucination to rationalize-away the discrepancy. To be clear, that is the way normal brains work. Cognitive dissonance is happening to all of us on a regular basis. It’s just easier to spot when it...