Echo chambers seem to be where most of us feel at home these days.

In 1957, a sociologist by the name of Leon Festinger proposed that human beings strive for psychological consistency to function in the real world. He noticed how we develop beliefs, routines and habits to maintain order in our lives, and how any interference to this order can cause mental discomfort. Holding ideas in mind that conflict with what we know stresses us out. 

He called this cognitive dissonance.

This is something we’ve all prone to, and it’s critical to become aware of if we want to understand and improve our decision making.

“Tell him you disagree and he turns away. Show him facts or figures and he questions your sources. Appeal to logic and he fails to see your point.” - Leon Festinger

Cognitive dissonance is at the root of rationalization, selective perception, and the confirmation bias. The more value we place on a belief or action in question, the greater the dissonance. The ratio of beliefs or actions that are incompatible with our worldviews can also amplify the dissonance. 

The reflex to any cognitive dissonance is to reduce it. Typically, we do so in one of four ways.

I have a sweet tooth, so we can use one of my vices as an example. Let’s say I want to give up Coke, and I find myself drinking one. Here’s how I might respond to the contradiction in my behavior:

1. Change the behavior or the belief - “I’m not drinking any more of this Coke”
2. Justify the behavior or the belief by changing the conflicting belief - “One Coke won’t hurt.”
3. Justify the behavior or the cognition by adding new behaviors or beliefs -  “I’ll drink twice as much water next time”
4. Ignore the conflicting information. - “Coke isn’t even that high in sugar.”

There will always be some level of internal conflict when we make a decision in the unknown. Cognitive dissonance is an observation, it's not something we can eliminate. We can become aware of it, and that's more than worth it.