Cognitive dissonance and its Importance - Essay Example

Cognitive dissonance is the distress that is experienced when people experience reality that challenges their perceptions. People have a tendency to resolve this dissonance by reconciling reality with their beliefs. They may do this by changing their perceptions to accept reality. They may alternatively seek information that confirms their beliefs so that the credibility of real experiences is reduced. Some may even ignore the information that challenges their beliefs. Critical thinkers should understand how critical thinking affects people’s responses to domestic and international changes.

If an external threat is perceived or an internal issue exposing government corruption emerges, people may try to reduce its importance if they believe their country is safe and the government is honest. They might even seek information to confirm and rationalize their irrational beliefs. Therefore, critical thinkers should use persuasive appeals in addition to logic to present the urgency and seriousness of international and domestic events. Analyzing a False Claim On Politifact.com, a claim that President Obama declared November to be Muslim appreciation month was found to be a hoax.

The claim cannot be substantiated on several counts. Firstly, the source of the claim, i.e. National Report, is not viewed as a credible news source. Secondly, no response to the news was received from the White House. The details included in the false report do not seem to reflect the nature of a statement made by the President. The attributed speech generalizes Muslims in vague language, which makes it dubious. Furthermore, the Council on American-Islamic relations also does not corroborate the false claim.

Evaluation of ‘Sorry, Kids. We Ate It All’ This article is an effective and pithy expose of one of the best-concealed threats to the well-being of the “future elderly” in the United States. This article by Thomas L. Friedman sheds light on an interesting movement that people such as Stan Druckenmiller and Geoffrey Canada are trying to raise among the educated youth in America. The article emphatically explains how the corporate and political circles in the country are placing the future of the middle class in America in existential danger.

This article also highlights the vulnerability of American youth because compared to other segments such as the corporate sector and the political elite, it is relatively poorly organized. Due to this weakness, they are being victimized as various classes and groups in American society struggle to use their influence over policymakers and shape policies in their favour. Friedman highlights this collaboration between senior citizens, financial industry leaders and various unions with the politicians.

In doing so, Friedman communicates the necessity of a mass movement on the same scale and with the same fervor as the anti-war movement of the 1960s. Friedman uses facts and logic to prove that an “intergenerational war” against the youth is already underway and unless young Americans organize themselves into a national-scale movement, their hopes of having a secure future will be at stake. This would take place as the history of taxing the young to provide entitlements to the elderly continues into the future.

Friedman incorporates Druckenmiller’s research by stating that as the baby boomer generation retires from jobs in the coming decades and the present student population enters the workforce, the pressure on it to support the entitlements of the elderly population could very well shrink the size of the middle class. Considering the immense financial pressure in the form of taxation and reduced social benefits benefit cuts that this segment is going to face, the promise of education being a source of social and economic uplift for the large numbers of underprivileged youth will be compromised.

This is the most important point of the article because it establishes the