11d • General discussion
Discomfort as the growth indicator.
In my last post I mentioned that the Antithesis stage of dialectic can be uncomfortable. Confronting contradictions can be not only painful, but dangerous to protective mental structures, whether those structures are holding us back or not.
My explanation of dialectic phases may have given off an air of linearity: like its a natural progression from antithesis to synthesis. But life doesn't usually work so cleanly, and I alluded to that in my brief discussion about my changing concept of Christianity. Each of the differing aspects I listed were realizations that came at different points of my education: Antithesis is not a one stop shop, it often feels like a boomerang.
The discomfort that comes at the antithesis stage is reminiscent of Cognitive Dissonance (Ref: ,https://youtu.be/HcI7M23YCLM?si=LR0m33z6XoyAZcEW) a term in psychology coined by Leon Festinger that refers to the discomfort experienced when a persons actions do not align with their beliefs or when concurrently held beliefs are contradictory.
For example "I value health, and I don't exercise as much as I want" the behavior is misaligned with the value.
Or "I believe we should always respect our elders, and I believe respect is earned" those are contradictory attitudes towards respect when you meet an old person who embodies the traits you have no respect for.
While the thesis-antithesis-synthesis dialectic process is a philosophical tool for situating ourselves within the Absolute, I view Cognitive Dissonance Theory as a version of the dialectic which centers the self.
Cognitive Dissonance Theory offers several paths a person can take when they encounter discomfort:
1. Changing behavior (going to gym, changing diet)
2. Updating beliefs (going to therapy if there were some unhealthy belief about the self like an eating disorder driving the person to obsess over exercise)
or 3. justifying behavior to temporarily alleviate the discomfort (at least I'm not as unhealthy as X). Or numbing to alleviate discomfort (drugs, alcohol, risk taking)
The path that is taken depends on the person standing at the crossroads.
Philosophically speaking, you can go through your life never scratching the itch from facts that challenge your perspectives on the world and your role in it. Likewise, you can go through your life avoiding a confrontation with the discomfort of Dissonance.
Whether it is an itch on your intellectual periphery or a grating in your very soul, you will face consequences whether you approach the discomfort as an opportunity to grow or not.
Will you let your discomfort elevate you or allow it to drag you down?
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Discomfort as the growth indicator.
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