Er, run that past me again...

looksee

This is a genuine question just because I am interested.

I put a post into another forum which included the sentence

'Don't expect you are going to educate anyone, they don't want to be educated, its more fun throwing around wild generalisations.'

Subsequently another poster picked up that sentence and quoted it, adding

'The cognitive dissonance is astounding.'

Now I'm not a psychologist, and I had never heard the term before, so I looked it up and more or less understand what it means, but I can't relate it to my question and I am trying to figure out what was meant by the poster. Three people agreed with him, so apparently it does make sense.

I am not trying to start a row or anything, I would just like to understand the exchange (I did ask, sort of, but no-one answered). It would not be relevant to pursue it in the thread so hopefully someone here will be able to explain it for me

Kooli

I don't know if you wanna give any more info, but I wonder if the comment about cognitive dissonance was perhaps agreeing with you?
Like saying that other people don't want to learn the facts because of the cognitive dissonance that would produce, so they prefer to see things as they want to see them?

Again, hard to say without knowing the context.

looksee

''I haven't been on AH for a long time since I figured out that it was the tabloid forum. Say what you like because no-one is taking any serious notice. It keeps most of the garbage in one place and results in other forums being more interesting and reasonable.

So the answer is, (not just for Muslims) if you know you are going to be seriously offended - as against just offended enough to keep a row going - don't go on AH, or at least avoid the offending threads. Stay away then you won't know what they are saying. What you don't know won't hurt you, and you will be one less person to keep the flames burning. Don't expect you are going to educate anyone, they don't want to be educated, its more fun throwing around wild generalisations.

As has been suggested, go and have a discussion on Humanities where, if people don't agree, at least they will do it reasonably politely and with considered opionions.''

This was one of my contributions to a discussion that had been started by a poster complaining about anti-Muslim threads.

I don't want to reopen that debate, but I was really interested in the answering post which just quoted the one sentence ''Dont expect you are....''
and said 'the cognative dissonance is astounding'.

Thanks Kooli, I get what you are saying and I think it might be what was being said.

Valmont

I read the thread in question and if I recall correctly that comment was not directed at you. I only remembered it because it was used unusually. Unfortunately cognitive dissonance has become an argumentative insult on some of the forums here on boards. Usually it's thrown about with no reasoning whatsoever; more of a mud slinging method really.

looksee

Thanks Valmount, I'm not really worried about someone having a dig at me, I just couldn't get my head round the meaning based on the exchange, like you, it caught my attention. Anyway I have checked it out in a few places and I think I have understood the concept, interesting!