The human mind is usually incorrect. It tries to construct reality so that it must survive through that constructed reality. The divergence between reality itself and its construction could be devastating. I should note that a mismatch between reality and its construction on infrequent occasions could be more helpful to the person. But such circumstances are only by black swan lucks.
Processes have thought patterns in mind. Material objects fire in some other ways mind. Senses are always keen on practices that are interesting because it would help the reason to construct designs that haven't existed before. It can always be assumed that new connections end up with smooth and pleasant emotions in mind. New relationships that have never existed before.
But if there are patterns in the mind that differs quite much within the sense from the sensory inputs, then the reason has three options to take with hesitation (ref. Cognitive Resonance Theory).
Now let us examine bivalent scenarios of each action to determine possible divergences from reality.
If the belief was correct:
-Changing the belief harms the mind and usually signals that the changing mind is sick.
-Not changing the belief and changing the action would be the optimal choice
-Changing the action perception would establish a corrupted mindset.
If the action was correct:
-Changing the action perception would similarly harm and signal a sick mind. Such behaviours can be observed under -isms. Imagine saying that Hindu cows are demons. He will neglect this information directly in their mind.
-Changing the belief would update the mind and have minimal harm.
-Changing action would cloak the inconsistency and hinder consciousness.
If the action perception was correct:
-Changing the belief could be risky as perception may not be referring to belief itself.
-Changing the action would have good or bad consequences.
-Changing the action perception would be harmful.
Wrong beliefs would,
-manipulate the actions and assimilate perception
Wrong perceptions would,
-Cause wrong actions and form wrong beliefs
Wrong actions would,
-Create false beliefs and distort perceptions.
Imagine a high school in the US or a place of your wish. And now imagine a youngster joining a group in his class. And let's assume the group believed in mysticism. And let's take this youngster who wants to be in this group, but he is a rationalist. All the conditions are set; let's examine the scenario.
The teenager observes the standard group norms and behaviours. He understands his Y-ism will drive him away from the group's favour. First, he does not give up on his Y-ism to X-ism. But now, he acts like an X-ist to adapt to the group (Cognitive Dissonance up). As the days pass by, with repetition of X-ist actions, he sees X-ism isn't that bad at all (Cognitive Dissonance down as perception changed). His perception of reality slowly shifts from Y-ist to X-ist. The more he performs group norms, the less he performs his former behaviours/action moves (Cognitive Dissonance down as actions are adjusted). The more he acts X-ist, the more he perceives the world through the goggles of X-ism (Cognitive Dissonance down as beliefs are changed). The more he perceives the world X-ismly, the more he believes in X-ism (The Overall Cognitive Dissonance is down since the entry into the group).
To be correctly updated, the human mind must act correctly with each given instance. Knowing that neural networks grow upon themselves, an inconsistency growing could threaten the whole cognitive system's functionality to deal with or perceive reality. One must always behave consciously to beware of even the possibility of those mismatches because the cost of not doing so is enormous. Any choice to decrease cognitive dissonance that is incorrect degrades the property of other properties of the mind.
If the vicious cycle is left alone, it will create an unreal reality for the person to toil- a torment. Or shatter the cold awakening from this vicious cycle's awareness; in the end, they are broken to their very core. The second option is known to be very painful but offers a chance indeed to construct reality correctly- a debt. This option demands significant effort and will.
And usually, broken pieces hardly integrate correctly if the pain is sustained without perishing; thus, mind your reactions to your dissonances.
Originally published for Polyhedron in 07/29/2023
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