Brain Glitch
The Power of Cognitive Smoothing
Welcome to Polymathic Being, a place to explore counterintuitive insights across multiple domains. These essays take common topics and explore them from different perspectives and disciplines, to uncover unique insights and solutions.
Today's topic focuses exclusively on a persistent behavior humans have where, when faced with two truths that are incompatible with our worldview, our brains will glitch and eliminate the problem entirely. It causes some of the worst social divisions we see today so let’s dive in and explore these brain glitches and what we can do about them.
Intro
We’ve probably all been here: Our online nemesis/troll/neighbor/sweet lady from church has made a crucial admission that demonstrates their illogic, hypocrisy, and contradictions. Our fingers heat up as we proudly pull the threads, provide the evidence, and sit back to savor our win. The reply comes back and they’ve changed the subject or returned with a personal attack, or even flipped the accusation back around in a “No, I’m not, you are!” second-grade playground retort.
I’d share a few examples but I’m actually kind of embarrassed I get sucked into these situations. For me, my participation is a combination of a perverse curiosity to see just how far some people will go and stubbornness to see if I can argue in any way that can get them to change their opinion even a tiny bit. While I fail miserably on the second part, that perverse curiosity exposes me to incredible case studies of just how effective our brains are at cognitive smoothing.
This is a concept we first explored in You Know Nothing and a great example of cognitive smoothing is that we all have sizeable blindspots in each eye. Literally, a spot in each eye with no vision because of the optic nerve, and yet you never notice it and have to do some fancy tricks to prove it’s actually there.
Cognitive Dissonance
When it comes to the smoothing of ideas, the five-dollar word is Cognitive Dissonance which is an incredibly powerful protective system in our brains.
Cognitive dissonance is described as the mental disturbance people feel when they realize their cognitions and actions are inconsistent or contradictory.
The pressure builds up in our brains until something flips and then *poof* the problem is resolved typically through a “No I’m not, you are” accusation or the complete changing of the topic. If you’ve ever wondered why some conversations just spin in circles or you see your own accusations come straight back, you’ve probably been on the receiving side.
It’s the brain’s defensive mechanism to, quite literally, protect itself. That’s because our brain has two job functions. 1. Make sense of the world around us and 2. Be efficient. This means two apparently contradictory beliefs can actually work in life as long as they’re not forced to work at the same time. For example:
Environmental Concerns: Many individuals believe in protecting the environment and take pride in supporting so-called green initiatives like recycling. They also live in large houses, take vacations, and enjoy the opulence of First World living.
AI and Creativity: Many artists like to believe that they are uniquely creative while at the same time, acknowledging their art is inspired by others.
Workplace Values: A salesperson might be extremely good at selling and receiving awards but would never buy the product.
Procrastination and Responsibility: A person who values productivity may spend an entire day watching TV instead of working on an important project. They justify this by convincing themselves that they "deserve a break" even though this behavior conflicts with their self-image as a diligent worker
Politics: A man can both feel incredibly supportive and caring for the disenfranchised and also hold an affinity for in-group preferences. They do care but they don’t care about everyone.
Feminism: A woman believes men and women are equal and also recognizes that there are significant differences between men and women.
Rhetoric: A person believes they are a reasonable and logical person while at the same time, getting into impassioned arguments online. (I fall victim to this)
Let’s make this personal. I remember learning about cognitive dissonance and thinking this was clearly what other people suffered from. Certainly not me! One day, I found myself in a debate on some ridiculously important topic that I can’t for the life of me even remember… Anyhow, a point had been made and I was determined to prove it wrong so I Googled and landed on the first thing that confirmed my bias. My interlocutor called me out for it and I felt a rising angst in my diaphragm.
I was a logical, rational, and sophisticated person.
I lost a critical point on a topic I held as important.
I resorted to reactive tactics that were not logical, rational, and sophisticated.
It couldn’t be that I was having an emotional reaction, that my Elephant was stampeding through the jungle without me! I felt the pressure growing and growing and my fingers hovered with retorts ready while my stomach twisted.
Then I stepped back, took a deep breath, and tried to stop. I was shocked by how hard it was to stop the brain from smoothing things over. I forced myself to investigate why I was feeling this way and had to acknowledge that my argument was wrong.
It was my first step to truly facing my own cognitive dissonance and naming it as such. It’s still something I struggle with. It’s certainly not a comfortable place to be because you often find yourself facing your own Sacred Cows. I have certainly found myself there many times, faced with the challenge of managing the dissonance.
Facing the Dissonance
When you feel that surge of emotion it provides a perfect alert to pause. It takes time to really pin down the feeling and it’s different for anyone. Sometimes, we don’t even notice unless we review an online or in-person argument. That’s how I’ve caught some of mine. I’ll look back and wonder, ‘What was I thinking?’
Well, you weren’t really thinking, you glitched and your brain smoothed it out. Think of an argument with your significant other. None of us are perfect so I guarantee you glitched at least once. Be honest with yourself and find it, then study it, and then learn from it. Only then can we start exerting control over how we handle the dissonance and whether we learn and adapt.
Being able to see it in others is also important because, once cognitive dissonance sets in, no one is winning any argument. It’s infuriating to deal with in others and infuriating for others to deal with in us. The catch is, you can only face it within yourself and you only have control over yourself.
Not all Dissonance is Bad
Once we’ve learned to face our own dissonance it’s critical to acknowledge that not all inconsistent or contradictory beliefs are bad. Dissonance allows us to face what appear to be contradictions and understand whether they truly oppose us or whether we’re missing a critical perspective. For example:
I can be an environmental steward while calling out greenwashing.
I can use AI while protecting the critical elements of human creativity.
I can work as a defense contractor while disagreeing with foreign policy.
I can be highly productive and a lazy leader at the same time.
I can care about the disenfranchised and believe in controlled immigration.
I can recognize that men and women are uniquely different while also looking for ways to improve equality.
I can be reasonable and logical while recognizing my emotional elephant is alive and well.
By facing what can appear to be contradictory views we see that it’s not a binary and that a third dimension can exist if we step back from the idea that there is a winner and a loser instead of a different perspective. I’ve already applied this philosophy to my religious and political affiliations. I also try to do this in these essays where many poke at commonly held beliefs and uncover counterintuitive insights that are different than the typically binary, yet superficial general perspective.
Sometimes we can accept the contradiction and sometimes we can reframe the contradiction to find a new position. The key is that we’ve faced it and are now better prepared to understand the nuance of the situation.
Summary
“No, I’m not! You are!” and other devolutions of our engagements are often the result of cognitive dissonance made manifest. We haven’t reconciled our inconsistencies and contradictions and so, when we are faced with them, we ‘glitch.’ It’s easy to see on social media specifically in the devolution of a discussion into logical fallacies, personal attacks, and accusations. It’s also this refusal to accept any new information, the dismissal of any argument, and the besmirching of another person’s character that causes political and social divisions.
Overcoming cognitive dissonance isn’t easy but there are three steps we can take:
Finding it in ourselves
Identifying when it happens in others and having grace
Analyzing what the contradiction is and seeing if a new perspective can emerge.
This allows each of us, individually, to improve our own perspective and even if only a few of us take action to avoid the pitfalls, that still means there are fewer divisions fracturing relationships. Think about applying this to your close relationships as well as your online relationships. What might you do differently in the future? I’d love to hear your thoughts.
I explored the concept of our brain glitching in Paradox: Book One of The Singularity Chronicles where, during a tense time of conflict, Kira and her friend Hector discuss how people can burn the world down around them without seeing the contradiction.
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Let me begin with two quotes that I often revisit, especially when encountering cognitive dissonance:
“The test of a first-rate intelligence,” he said, “is the ability to hold two opposed ideas in the mind, at the same time, and still retain the ability to function.” - Scott Fitzgerald
And:
“A broad-minded person, who can see both sides of a question and is ready to hold opposed truths while admitting that they cannot reconcile them, is at a manifest disadvantage with a narrow-minded person who sees but one side, sees it clearly and is ready to interpret the whole world in accordance with their formula.” - H. Maynard Smith
The second quote resonates more with me, as I often find myself unable to reconcile contradictions. I see these inconsistencies everywhere, even within my own thoughts. Yet, there are times when a decision must be made. In those moments, I strive to choose the side that promises the greatest good or benefits the most people—even if it challenges my own views. My ultimate goal in every interaction is to learn and remain open to other possibilities. While I’ve struggled with this approach for years and don’t always succeed in setting aside my ego, I’ve come to realize that doing so often leads to better outcomes for everyone involved.
This journey toward embracing uncertainty reminds me of another quote that resonates deeply with me:
“I can live with doubt and uncertainty and not knowing. I think it is much more interesting to live not knowing than to have answers that might be wrong. If we will only allow that, as we progress, we remain unsure, we will leave opportunities for alternatives. We will not become enthusiastic for the fact, the knowledge, the absolute truth of the day, but remain always uncertain … In order to make progress, one must leave the door to the unknown ajar.” - Richard P. Feynman
I too have been focusing on recognizing that a part of me seems to want to work against my own best interests. Simply accepting this seems to go a very long way toward addressing the problem. I think that half the time, if I'm arguing with someone, it's because neither of us is arguing about the same thing, really. Simply paraphrasing what the other person just said has been a godsend, although actually remembering to do this? That's tough!
This comment is a bit of a sidebar based on what you said that really resonated with me, but the blind spot analogy is really useful too, along with the central thesis.