Heart and mind in dissonance
Leon Festinger (1919- 1989), father of the “cognitive dissonance” concept, claimed that human beings need to maintain a certain psychological coherence in order to be able to mentally function in the real world. Someone who lives with internal inconsistencies tends to become psychologically uneasy and is motivated (by their own defence mechanisms) to reduce their cognitive dissonance. To lower the dissonance, which is caused by incoherence between opinions, behaviours, values and/or beliefs, one of those variables has to be changed. One way of doing so is by re-adjusting or replacing one or more opinions, behaviours, values and/ or beliefs; another way is to search and acquire new information that increases consonance. However the easier way (but in my opinion, less effective) is to try to forget, ignore or decrease the importance of the cognitions that cause the dissonance. The more deep-rooted a belief is in one’s culture and daily life practices, the strongest will be the need to deny, replace or reduce the beliefs that are objected.
Those who know me, know that I never was an “animal lover”. Until I was 12 years old I had and irrational fear of dogs (cynophobia) and cats never sparked me much interest. Most birds and other animals who have wings, such as bats and butterflies, make me physically uncomfortable and give me chills (I can’t explain it in a better way). I guess squirrels always made me smile but the fun was mostly seeing them running around in parks. In short, I was never one of those people crazy to pet every single dog and cat they encounter on the street, nor did it ever crossed my mind to get a pet to keep me some company.
My mother wasn’t either an “animal lover”, though she was very empathetic towards them. Whenever the days started getting warm , she would leave some containers with water in our backyard so that the birds could drink it and survive our supper hot summer. I recall, as if it was today, when one afternoon my father showed up with a cricket, that he had caught himself, inside a mini cage. My sister and I found it cool but as soon as my father left, my mother explained us how cruel it was to leave the little critter shut in a cage and we promptly set it free in the yard. She also didn’t like those traditional pig slaughter events(“party” where family and friends get together to kill one or more pigs and then distribute tasks to transform the corpse into various types of “food”) nor bullfights, or even seeing animals in circus.
My mother knew that other animals also suffer, feel pain, joy and somehow understand the difference between comfort and discomfort, freedom and captivity. This is empathy, the ability to “put yourself in other’s shoes”. However, the empathy towards other animals causes a certain level of cognitive dissonance (depending on one’s empathic ability). I think my mother coped with this cognitive dissonance provoked by being simultaneously empathetic with other animals and at the same time enjoying eating them, just like most people do, and just like I did most of my life. One of my mother’s favourite food was fried quail, a bird that is not so different from the other birds she used to help every summer. In one hand she held to the belief that is was necessary, in order to be healthy, to eat animal products. On the other hand she thought that eating animals was “normal” (everybody does it) and “natural” (because human beings have always done it) and that those were strong enough reasons to do so. Moreover, she turned to the easy way to deal with cognitive dissonance: she would simply “forget” that what she was eating was parts of animals that had lived before reaching her plate, and thus for that to happen they had to be in captivity and afterwards be assassinated after seeing their fellows go through the same process.
My mother was what I like to call a “non-practicing vegan”. If she was still alive, I truly believe she would have followed Tico and I and become vegan as well. I actually saw that happening in some of my vegan friend’s families. It is natural to learn about empathy, just like many other things, by the example from the people who raised us since we were small kids. And when these educators/caretakers see their children making such a profound change in their beliefs and behaviours, they too feel motivated to rethink their own habits and values. Entire families go vegan after a family member change their way to deal with cognitive dissonance, but now for good, and no longer “forgetting” that even though they would not hurt an animal themselves, they would still pay someone else to do so.
I know many people who, at first sight, are much more empathic than I am when it comes to other animals. One of them cannot stand watching wildlife documentaries as it’s too hard to see preys being bitten by their predators. Another one that adopted a dog and loves him as if he was her child and thus developed a special interest by the canine species, but I know that if she was to deeply meet another animal (a pig for instance) in her daily life, she would be as committed to defend that species rights just as she already does with her own pet. Another person is maybe the most empathetic human being I know, in relationship to people, however I suspect that she is also with animals as well and I also think that in her case the cognitive dissonance is such that no longer allows her body to properly digest animal products and thus making her suffer with many digestive issues.
Even my father, who slaughtered pigs with his own hands (in those traditional parties) and who loves bullfights, many times shows empathy for other animals. I was astonished when I learn that my father wanted to be a veterinary and my admiration for him grew up even more by knowing that. In his case, the cognitive dissonance made him strongly believe that some species are worthy of affection, protection and respect while others only exist to fulfil human beings needs and are things, just like objects without feelings nor senses, and some other species are “plagues” that should no longer exist.
All of us need to find out ways to handle our own cognitive dissonances, not just regarding relationships with other animal species, but also with many other aspects such as social beliefs and dissonant politics, values and behaviour inconsistencies, incoherence to how we see ourselves and others, etc.. My own experience tells me that nothing gives more peace of mind than being done with cognitive dissonances through changing behaviours that are in dispute with our own values, within reasonable limits to each person.
What are your cognitive dissonances? Do you sometimes feel the mental nuisance that causes empathy towards other animals combined with “normal” eating habits? Do you know any “non-practicing vegans” or do you consider yourself one of them? As always, your opinions are more than welcome.
