Cognitive Dissonance

The fox who longed for grapes, beholds with pain

The tempting clusters were too high to gain;

Grieved in his heart he forced a careless smile,

And cried ,‘They’re sharp and hardly worth my while.'

The fable follows this pattern: something is desired, it is determined that the thing desired is unattainable, the desired thing is mocked/critisized.

Cognitive dissonance is the uncomfortable feeling caused by simultaneous conflicting ideas. "I want that, but something's keeping me from getting it."

The connection between the spiritual life and the concept this fable illustrates is undeniable. Everyone has a desire for God, holiness, and happiness. But living it out can seem like a goal to high to reach. So to soothe our cognitive dissonance, we mock the thing we desire most but are too weak to have.

Abrahem

I'm giving a test in my moral theology class tomorrow which covers moral object, intention, and circumstance. For class I found several different scenarios to read where we'd identify each source. For the test, I decided to make my own and give it as an essay question. If you read this, see if you can identify each then write them in the comments.

Abrahem lives in a very poor town near the border of Israel where crime, death, and violence are an everyday occurrence. He needs money because he insists on taking his pregnant wife to the best hospital. There is another more affordable hospital he could take his wife to, but he does not trust it due to its bad reputation.



Abrahem knows an organization that will pay a large sum of money if he agrees to plant a roadside bomb that will instantly kill any person near it when detonated. The organization tells him that the bomb will be used to kill who they think may be a corrupt Israeli businessman. All Abrahem has to do is dig a hole, put the device in the ground, cover it, walk away, and he’ll receive enough money to provide the best care possible for his wife and child. No one will ever know what he did.


Even though he knows and believes that it is always wrong to kill an innocent person, he agrees to plant the bomb because he thinks he’s doing something good. He does the job, receives his payment and everything appears to be going well. The next day while in the hospital with his wife, Abrahem sees on TV that an innocent group of soldiers (who are helping his city and country) were killed by the bomb he planted!

The Social Network

Great film for all intensive purposes. It made me think about what success in our society demands and really means. Even though there seems to be some controversy over whether the film makers really got all the facts straight/added random false things to it, I think it's good timing for most American's today, especially males my age. It seems realizing the American dream today has necessary moral reservations. I came to my own personal conclusion that the most profoundly religious people and top business executives are mutually exclusive...at least in terms of profoundly Catholic religous people. It's kind of an intersting irony that reveals some truth about the practice of making large sums of money and having power over so many people's lives.